Doors
by Cassandra Crimsoncourt
Summary: AU: Harry makes one tiny decision of walking a different direction (in contrast to a decision he makes in the original first book) and as a result gets sorted into Slytherin. Small quotes from the original books are quoted in italics to illustrate how the two parallel worlds are working. Its rating is there for dark subject matter and language. Black comedy drama. No slash.
1. Prologue

All characters/names belong to JK Rowling unless otherwise stated

Prologue

The night was sultry. Harry Potter lay awake in his cupboard under the stairs wishing he could open a window to quench the stifling summer air. He'd open the door but he'd been ordered by Aunt Petunia to keep it shut. He was a month away from his eleventh birthday and felt like an old man. He had been with the Dursleys for over a decade. What did he do to deserve ending up with such a screwed up family? His presence in their home seemed to be tolerated rather than enjoyed and the general feeling was that his aunt and uncle were doing him a great favour, a favour that he didn't deserve, in letting him stay. He was fed and watered, but only just. Most of the time he didn't have much of an appetite anyway. His stomach always felt tense and full of something other than food so there seemed little point filling it any further. He felt he might burst otherwise. This was in vast contrast to his cousin Dudley, however, whose sole purpose in life seemed to be to eat himself into sheer oblivion. Anything and everything Dudley could eat, he ate. Harry once witnessed the overweight little boy making myself a salt sandwich. Harry gagged at the site of it. Not only was Dudley greedy but absurdly spoilt. Anything he wanted he got. The whole house, let alone his two bedrooms seemed to be packed to the rafters with his toys. Harry meanwhile had very little and what he did have he was made to feel as if he didn't deserve and should be grateful for small mercies. It was the summer holidays and he was _supposed_ to be having fun. Dudley certainly was - normally by pinning Harry to the floor and sitting on his chest until he was unable to breath. His weeble shaped cousin would play at being friends one minute then a raging psychopath the next. He was angelic though compared to his aunt and uncle whom Harry frequently fantasised about killing. At least once a month he'd think about it. He didn't enjoy it but his hurt was so deep the thoughts just seemed to pop up out of nowhere. He'd think up all different ways of doing it, poison, a whack to the head or maybe he'd get a gun and blow them away. No that wouldn't work, too messy.

It was no good; he couldn't bare another night like this. It was hot and he really couldn't be bothered to think about murder. He rolled out of his tiny bed, opened the cupboard door and walked into the living room. Everyone else was in bed upstairs. He turned on the light - he wouldn't wake anyone if he kept it dimmed and remained as quiet as possible. The truth was Harry was always quiet. Dudley, however, had a volume that could turn up to eleven. Harry looked around at the walls that were packed full of Dudley's pictures and those of other beloved family members. There wasn't a single one of him in sight. The only photograph he knew of himself that existed was a Polaroid shot of he and Dudley in a supermarket when they were five. Dudley looked like a space hopper and Harry like a little rag doll whose stuffing had fallen out. Quite what he'd done to be treated like a piece of shit he wasn't entirely sure. Maybe he was just intrinsically bad, flawed. They did always refer to him as 'crazy' or 'weird'. Certainly Harry believed this for most of the time. Normal people couldn't, after all, have dreams that frequently came true, premonitions of the future or the ability to hear voices from thousands of miles away. There were other little things too, little things he couldn't quite put his finger on that he could do and see that no one else seemed to be able to. Often they would look at him as if to say 'what the hell are you? Are you even from planet Earth?' Somehow he always seemed to be in a doorway when they did that. It was as if he wanted to leave the room but at the same time was compelled to stay in order to make them understand. They never did. If things ever got really bad he'd run into his cupboard and scream into his pillow. Once he made the terrible mistake of screaming a little too loudly and both his aunt and uncle burst in telling him he was shaming them and 'oh what would the neighbours think?' Like breathing, however, like a natural reflex action, Harry didn't seem to be able to stop screaming that day so Uncle Vernon tried to suffocate him instead with his enormous, plate like hands. Harry merely passed out.

Harry had had enough of thinking. He was thirsty. There was cold water in the fridge he remembered; he'd have a glass of that. Walking into the kitchen, his bare feet coming into contact with the cold tiled floor he opened the fridge door that was covered in Dudley's hideous drawings and poured a glass of the ice cold liquid. For a moment he pulled up a chair at the table and remained sitting there. It was much cooler in the kitchen. It was also kind of boring so he walked back into the living room and switched on the TV. No school tomorrow, it wouldn't matter if he stayed up a little later than usual. He kept the volume down just low enough for him to hear but not loud enough to wake the sleeping idiots above him. He flicked through the channels and found himself a film and settled down to watch that. It was one he'd wanted to see before but hadn't been allowed to. It was called Throw Momma From The Train. He chuckled as the lead character tried to think up a good start for the novel he was writing. This looked like fun. The character, Professor Larry Donner, was an English Language and Literature tutor at a community college. In one scene he had a class full of strange looking hopefuls one of which, to his great disappointment, came up with the same first line for a story _he_ had written as Larry had done the previous day after spending hours deliberating over it. 'Class dismissed' he said in a dead pan voice. 'I have an enormous headache in my eye'. Harry slapped his knee and giggled into his hand. This was a rare moment of freedom. Normally he was forced to watch what his family wanted to see regardless of its content. His Aunt Petunia, in spite of her outwardly ladylike, proper appearance had a red raw sadistic streak. She'd start arguments for the sake of it and if Harry was ever (rarely) in a happy mood she'd make sure it didn't last. He never forgot the night (he can't have been more than 7 years old) when she forced him to watch an 18 rated horror film that gave him nightmares for weeks. She never explained her choices that night. This, of course, wasn't a side of her personality she revealed to anyone. Not even Uncle Vernon.

Harry continued to watch the film, trying to lose himself in the atmosphere of it. He was witnessing a squat little man called Owen (a student of Professor Donner's) sitting in a cinema watching Strangers On A Train. A film within a film: how brilliant. The two actors in the old Hitchcock thriller were discussing the fact that they both had a person close to them that they wanted to get rid of yet they couldn't as they'd each have an immediate motive. They, therefore, decided to swap murders. 'You kill my wife, I kill your father, criss cross, criss cross' one of them said. Harry watched Owen become enthralled by this idea. Owen decided to act on it based on the fact he wanted his mother dead and thought his teacher wanted his wife dead. If each swapped murders they'd eliminate the motives and establish an alibi. This film was not just hilarious but downright informative. Larry was in Owen's home now and Owen's overbearing mother didn't like it one bit. 'Who are you?' She squealed

'I'm Owen's friend'

'Owen hasn't got any friends'

'That's because he's shy.'

'No he's not he's fat and he's stupid'.

If only Harry could swap murders with someone. But wait, that's why he came in here, to avoid thinking about murder any more He switched over channels and watched a very boring documentary on penguins in the Arctic for several minutes. At least it made him feel cooler than before. It was almost as if a fresh breeze was blowing through an open window even though they were all shut. He was indeed shut in, like a prisoner. He turned back over to the comedy. Professor Larry Donner now was running frantically into his girlfriend's flat in an attempt to explain that Owen had, in fact, killed his wife. He had no alibi. He'd been up all night alone thinking of how to start his novel. He'd fry for sure. 'One little murder and I'm Jack The Ripper!' He yelled and stormed out of her door. Harry started to doze off but was awoken by the sound of a very loud trumpet blast. 'BBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR' it went. He quickly reached for the remote control to turn the volume down. Owen had tried to sound blast his mother to death. It didn't work. Harry finished his drink, watched the end of the film then went back into the kitchen, washed up his glass, turned out the lights and went back into his muggy cupboard. This time leaving the door slightly ajar.

Harry dreamed all sort of odd things that night - about the film mainly and how he poisoned his aunt and uncle. In his dream he'd somehow developed super human strength and managed to carry Uncle Vernon's lifeless body down the stars from his bedroom only to accidentally decapitate him in the banisters of the stairs on the way down. The noise of his head bouncing down he steps to the hallway below echoed through the house. Harry woke up briefly then went back to sleep. There were more strange symbols in his dream, a train and a castle, they were fuzzy and unclear. Then someone was trying to kill him. It was Uncle Vernon. He was blowing a trumpet in Harry's ear. He woke with a scream "ARGH!" He wasn't quite sure where he was being no longer asleep but not fully awake. Uncle Vernon heard the yell and came running, flinging Harry's cupboard door open to reveal an angry, almost disgusted face. "I dreamed Louis Armstrong was trying to kill me!" Harry blurted out without thinking of the meaning of his sentence. Uncle Vernon huffed disapprovingly and slammed the door in Harry's face. The young, skinny boy rubbed his eyes. He was alive, he was awake. What was that about Louis Armstrong? What was he talking about? Harry lay there for a few minutes waiting for his head to join the land of the living.

Breakfast was served in silence. This was the usual pattern after Harry had been perceived to have had one of his 'uncontrollable outbursts' revealing his 'deeply disturbed nature'. The Dursleys found it far easier to ignore reality and live in cloud cuckoo land than face it head on especially if it challenged their version of 'normal'. Harry was particularly hungry that morning and for some reason had an appetite for the first time in his life. He ate a full breakfast without thinking then realised everyone else had stopped eating and was starring in astonishment at him. It was a warm day so after finishing breakfast Harry suggested he go for a stroll to the local park. Nobody seemed particularly interested so he got dressed and left. Sat in the swing he wondered what it might be like to have a real family, one that actually loved him. A tear couldn't help but escape down his cheek. He wiped it quickly away. He watched a young couple out strolling with their dog in the distance. He'd like to have girlfriend one day when he was older he supposed but couldn't imagine it. It was hard enough just making a friend. He had one or two at his muggle primary school but no one that really understood him. None of them could see what his family were really like. They only saw the façade. Not the reality.

That summer passed like any other. Dudley's birthday was a little more interesting than Harry had expected though. He'd been dragged out to the zoo and found that not only could he talk to snakes but he could make glass vanish. All summer he thought about how sorry he felt for that snake and how pleased he was when it managed to escape through the open door, slithering off to freedom outside. Dudley was spoiled ridiculously, as usual, but as Harry's own birthday was approaching the atmosphere grew more and more tense. The dreams grew more vivid, more murders, more castles, more odd visions and the old favourite: a blinding flash of green light and a pain in his forehead. He always put it down to an age old memory of the car crash his parents died in. Then the letters started arriving, mysterious letters addressed to Harry. He didn't get to read or keep any of them but they did seem to prompt his Uncle Vernon to move him into Dudley's spare bedroom as if that would stop any more arriving. It didn't work, they came fast and furious through every nook and cranny in the house. Uncle Vernon always managed to destroy them all though. Someone was trying to reach him but who?

Harry had learned to pre-empt every one of the Dursleys' moves, to watch for nuances in their facial expressions and in order to predict their moods, to manipulate and to beguile. It was a survival technique. Without it he simply wouldn't survive. He was always one step ahead of the Dursleys or at least he tried to be because their controlling, suffocating behaviour forced him to be. That was why he attempted one morning to beat Uncle Vernon to it and meet the postman on the corner of the street at the crack of dawn and claim one of his mysterious letters for his own. That attempt failed also. The obese bastard from hell was guarding the door. After every failed attempt at escape Harry had to think even further ahead. Plan and plot. Lie if he had to. He had no choice. Anything he needed to do he _would_ do in order to live some semblance of a life.

Finally Uncle Vernon seemed to flip and kept the family on the road for the rest of the summer in an attempt to avoid more letters. The night before Harry's birthday they ended up in a hut on a rock in the middle of the sea. Harry felt lonelier than ever out there and wondered how much longer his deranged uncle would keep this madness up. They would starve for sure. Perhaps someone would cart Uncle Vernon off to a lunatic asylum. But then he'd still be left with his aunt and cousin. Damn. Harry wondered what he had to look forward to. Tomorrow was his eleventh birthday. Surely they'd have to come home at some point? Dudley's moaning would become unbearable for them all. Harry couldn't sleep at all the first night there. Then, at the stroke of midnight, a huge bang woke the rest of the fugitives up. An icy cold, wet wind brew ferociously through the hut spraying painfully onto their faces like tiny pebbles as they awoke. The doorway was missing its door and within it stood a giant man who introduced himself as 'Hagrid keeper of the keys at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry'. For the next twenty minutes or so this huge stranger made surreal small talk, lit a fire, gave Harry a birthday cake and roasted sausages. Most alarmingly he also informed him of the truth of his parent's death: they were murdered by some guy called Voldemort. His parents were famous and magical and the Dursleys were the worst bunch of 'muggles' Hagrid had ever seen. Harry couldn't help but hear the repulsed tone in Hagrid's voice when he said the M word. Harry's head spun and The Dursleys looked as if they'd all had hot pokers from the fire shoved up their arses. Then came four words that changed Harry's world and view of himself forever. "Harry, you're a wizard"

~Throw Momma From The Train, Larry Donner & Owen Lift belongs to Orion Pictures~


	2. Chapter 1 - Alone In A Crowd

Chapter One – Alone In A Crowd

Harry didn't know what it meant to be a wizard so finding out he was one sent him into a state of shock. Hagrid had told him he'd been accepted at Hogwarts and they needed to go shopping for supplies in London. Harry went along with this not knowing what else _to_ do. He was functioning on auto-pilot, following a giant around and listening to stories about goblins and dragons now. That's not something you do every day. He'd also found out he was incredibly rich. This was something he was pretty sure Dudley would have been jealous of. The trip he made to the Wizarding bank called Gringotts to collect his funds spiralled him physically into an unknown world much like the startling news had affected his view of everything he knew to be true. It was news that was half very welcome and half anxiety inducing. There he was standing in a place called Diagon Alley feeling very scared and wondering if he did the right thing in coming at all. At least the Dursleys were familiar. This wasn't. What the hell was waiting for him in this new world? In the doorway of Gringotts he looked up at Hagrid who appeared to be rather green after their roller coaster ride. "_Might as well get your uniform" said Hagrid nodding toward Madam Malkins Robes For All Occasions. "Listen Harry would ye mind if I slipped off for a quick pick me up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts?" _**Harry felt a shiver run up his spine in anticipation of what might happen next and was just about to stroll off alone to get his robes when he suddenly thought better of it and asked Hagrid if he could come to the pub too.** "Uh, yeah, I suppose so" said Hagrid rubbing his forehead. "Come on then, let's get you some pumpkin juice. It might put the colour back in yeh cheeks".

Harry didn't know what pumpkin juice was but if it helped he'd drink it. On top of everything else his head started to spin and he thought he saw another version of himself walking alone up the street to get robes as previously planned. "Um, Hagrid" he asked following him to the pub, "what's in pumpkin juice?" "What besides pumpkins?" Hagrid smiled "just sugar and herbs and stuff I think" he said, flatly, as if he didn't feel like talking at all. Whatever was in it Harry hoped it would stop any more odd visions of parallel universes. He'd once watched a documentary on TV (one of the few times he liked what the Dursleys liked) about how if you made a decision to walk this way or that another version of yourself makes a different decision and walks in another direction which splits your consciousness into two parallel universes. The theory behind it was that there was, in fact, a 'multiverse' and there are different versions of you living in different universes due to every tiny decision you make. You are a multidimensional being and live many different lives coexisting with your other selves. It made Harry's mind boggle. He thought maybe the Dursleys had liked it so much because they felt comfort in knowing that somewhere in another universe Harry didn't even exist.

Sitting in the pub Harry felt more confused than ever, surrounded by witches and wizards in strange robes and finding himself about to sign up for something he didn't know anything about. He wanted to ask Hagrid more about Hogwarts but didn't know where to start. Besides, the giant man had advised Harry not to talk to him until he'd had a fire whiskey as he thought he might otherwise throw up at any minute. That was enough to keep Harry silent. A strange looking waitress brought Harry a glass of dark brown liquid which he sipped carefully. It was actually pretty good. Maybe it was a magical drink. Maybe it would give him secret knowledge of Hogwarts and what to expect so he'd feel less like crapping himself. It seemed adults were incredibly good at keeping secrets one way or another and he wondered if they did it for kicks. All his life he'd been lied to. He'd been lied to about who he was, who his parents were and been made to feel like a freak. Now he was diving head first into a mysterious world about which he knew only the bare minimum. Why couldn't he just get answers? Finally Hagrid's colour seemed to change back from a sickly green to its usual ruddy complexion as he gulped down his final mouthful of fire whiskey. "That's better" he said. "Sorry I've been quiet Harry I just didn't feel too well after that ride is all. How are you feeling now? Ready to get the rest of yeh stuff?" "Uh, sure" said Harry finishing his pumpkin juice and hoping the rest of his 'stuff' would bring a little more clarity to his ridiculous situation.

Walking back out into the open air Harry glanced across the street at the robe shop and noticed a pale, blonde haired boy coming out on his own. He looked just as pathetic as Harry felt. There were plenty of other boys Harry's age in the street but they were all in groups laughing and joking. "Oh look, the Nimbus 2000!", they squealed, looking in the window of a shop that sold broomsticks. They seemed to know exactly what they were getting into. A 'Nimbus 2000' meant nothing to Harry. They might has well have said 'yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye.'* Harry was first whisked off to get his robes followed by parchment and quills and finally a bookstore called Flourish and Blotts. At last - information. Harry was in his element with hundreds of strange looking books in all shapes and sizes - books on everything and anything. He grinned with delight as he walked out of the shop and placed the books in a cauldron which hung around his arm. Dudley would be jealous if he knew. He'd be even more jealous if Hagrid had let him buy a solid gold cauldron but never mind. Hagrid soon made up for his lack of forthcoming behaviour when he presented Harry with a beautiful snowy owl in a huge cage. "Happy Birthday Harry" the giant smiled. This was the first real birthday present Harry had ever received. "Wow thanks" he grinned. His first ever pet. "Don't forget to take her to Hogwarts with you" Hagrid reminded. "Oh no I won't" Harry shook his head thinking he'd have to be crazy to leave this lovely looking creature with the Dursleys. Goodness knows what sort of a state it'd be in when he returned.

Harry felt his mood elevated slightly as he was taken into Ollivander's wand shop. This was he most fascinating stop so far. Fascinating but scary. He met a very creepy looking man called Ollivander who told him Harry's mum and dad had bought their wands in this very shop, that Hagrid had been expelled from Hogwarts and that the reason Harry had a scar on his head was because someone with a similar wand had given it to him. He was beginning to get the picture but he didn't like it very much. It felt amazing to have this magical wand in his possession but not so amazing that he didn't have a clue what he was going to do with it or what it was for. On the way back to Surrey from London Hagrid still didn't give him any answers even though he noticed how terrified Harry was looking. He was famous but didn't have a clue who he was. Knowing he was a wizard though, he supposed, was a good enough start.

The summer was boring and painful. Harry was being treated as if he was invisible. If he walked past is aunt or uncle in the hallway they'd ignore him. In order to take a break from the mind numbing atmosphere he'd occasionally give them a curse of boils. He wouldn't bother with Dudley seeing as his cousin was already now terrified of him but it often put a smile on Harry's face to see Uncle Vernon take a while to get comfortable on the sofa while wincing in pain. Aunt Petunia would also occasionally scream from the bathroom then come downstairs covered in a rash which she never mentioned to anyone. Once again the Dursleys were doing very well at pretending that what they did not want to face wasn't there. Harry's books were a life saver. He ploughed through them from cover to cover morning, noon and night learning everything he possibly could. He figured that being as no-one had really bothered to prepare him in any other way for Hogwarts he'd learn everything he possibly could from his books before he went. Sometimes he'd take a break from them to magically fix Dudley's broken TVs or radios or CD players that were left forgotten in Harry's new bedroom. Soon he'd fixed up the whole room and neatly stacked Dudley's unwanted toys to one side. He was never disturbed partly due to the fact that Hedwig's droppings stunk the place out. Harry didn't mind though.

The night before he was due to go to Hogwarts he managed to get his ever loving uncle Vernon to be kind enough to agree to give him a lift to Kings Cross Station. Harry was still feeling the hurt left in is heart that threatened to tear him in half by being so ostracised from his family. Here was his own flesh and blood and they wanted nothing to do with him. He wished he could take a pill, like an aspirin for a headache, to make the pain go away but no such pill existed. Instead he imagined getting away from Little Whinging and starting a new life in Hogwarts. He didn't hope too much to make new friends he just wanted to get his head down and work. He figured if he lost himself in work he wouldn't think about the hurt so much.

On his way up to the station in the morning the car ride was painfully quiet. He gazed out of the window and then suddenly remembered Dudley had a tail that needed removing and stated to giggle. "What's so funny?" Snapped Uncle Vernon. "Nothing" Harry said. "I'll be laughing when you find out there's no platform nine and ¾". He retorted. Harry just ignored him and played with Hedwig through her cage bars. She cooed softly. His family dropped him off like unwanted baggage at the station, muttered a few more spiteful things about the platform and sped off. Harry stood silently for a moment turning in circles, looking for clues. There was no sign of platform nine and ¾ and the guards thought it was funny when he asked where it was. His ears pricked up, however, when he heard the word 'muggles' mentioned. He turned around to where the voice was coming from and saw a red haired lady with five children two of which were twins. He plucked up the courage to ask her how to get on to the platform and followed her directions. Walking through walls wasn't something he was used to and it took him a while to gather himself. There was the train he had seen his dreams. It was a most peculiar feeling. One of the red haired lady's sons (one of the twins) kindly helped him on to the train with his cases and Harry quickly found himself an empty carriage. The nerves started again. Oh goodness what was he about to do? Maybe he could change his mind, 'If I get off now I can run back to Kings Cross and get a taxi to the hospital and look for the Dursleys…oh shut up you silly boy' he stopped himself. Looking around him everybody else seemed prepared and seemed to know exactly what they were in for. He slid down in his seat as he watched the red haired family chatting on the platform outside. The twins, Fred and George, seemed OK but the youngest boy and the oldest boy seemed insufferably arrogant. Harry wondered if kids everywhere were like Dudley. He imagined wizard children being different but this just felt like muggle school all over again. There was one stark difference…not many kids at muggle school noticed Harry. Everyone seemed to notice him here even though he tried to remain inconspicuous. "There he is, it's Harry Potter, see the scar!" ' I'm not sure I feel comfortable with being famous' Harry thought, his nerves getting the better of him again. Suddenly the door of his compartment slid open and in walked the youngest red haired boy who's name was Ron. 'Oh God' thought Harry. 'Here we go'.

_"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.  
Harry nodded.  
"Oh -well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said  
Ron. "And have you really got - you know..."  
He pointed at Harry's forehead.  
Harry pulled back his hair to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.  
"So that's where You-Know-Who…"  
"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."  
"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly_

"No" Harry said, "nothing". Like he was going to tell him anything anyway. He didn't know him well enough and wasn't entirely sure that he liked him yet. He bit his bottom lip and the two boys sat in awkward silence for a moment. Finally the silence broke _"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"_

_"Horrible -well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though"._

Ron smiled awkwardly and stared out of the window again as the train was moving off. 'Oh well, too late to run now' Harry thought 'and being as I'm in the same compartment with Ron I might as well make the most of it and get more information on Hogwarts if I can' but all Ron could talk about was his family and asked over and over what it was like to be famous, to have survived 'you know who'. Harry felt sicker and sicker with every question thrown at him wishing he could get some answers instead. He would have become irritated but at least Ron was making conversation and he wasn't bored out of his mind as he was at home. If only Hagrid had told him more, he might feel a little more relaxed and more like laughing off his being famous but he hadn't so Harry didn't.

As the train continued to speed through the countryside Harry and Ron continued to make small talk when suddenly things got interesting. Ron had introduced Harry to 'chocolate frog cards' and luckily they were full of information about the greatest wizards and witches of all time including the current headmaster of Hogwarts. Harry couldn't take his eyes of them. Ron even let him have some of his own cards. Then the compartment door opened again and in walked a round faced boy with a bushy haired girl. The boy (called Neville) had lost his pet toad and the girl (called Hermione), well she just seemed to like the sound of her own voice. In one minute she had made fun of Ron's attempt at a spell, boasted about how much she knew about magic and Hogwarts (in spite of growing up as a muggle) and just to make a nice change commented on how amazingly famous Harry was.

_"I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. _Harry felt physically sick and almost felt himself gag with nervousness_. "Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw  
wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's  
toad_. _You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there  
soon."  
_Harry had never felt like hitting a girl before. Maybe he was feeling a new sense of bravery.

_"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron_.  
"I couldn't agree more" Harry echoed rubbing his forehead. "What's a 'house' anyway?" Harry asked, having never heard the term before.  
"Oh well, there's four of them" Ron answered. "Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. You get sorted into one of them when you arrive at Hogwarts".  
"What do you mean 'sorted'?" Harry asked nervously.  
"Well, I don't know I mean, Fred reckoned you have to take a bravery test like wrestling a troll or something" Ron explained cringing.  
Harry clapped his hand over his mouth. "I think I'm going to throw up" he said. "Is there a toilet on this train?"  
"Uh yeah" Ron said looking concerned. "It's down in the next carriage".

Harry sped off hoping he'd make it in time. He did thankfully. Up came his entire breakfast plus all the sweets he and Ron had consumed during their conversation. He gazed at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. He also noticed how pale he had turned. In fact he was almost green, the same colour Hagrid turned in Gringotts. Harry flushed the toilet and then washed his hands splashing water over his face. He wondered if all this was just a very intense dream and pinched his cheek. Ouch. OK so it wasn't a dream. The front of his hair was dripping wet so he pushed it out of the way. There was that famous scar everyone was so keen on talking about. The mirror was cracked, half way down to the middle and then veered off in two directions right and left. This gave Harry the appearance of having two scars, one on each side that extended in a lightening shape to just beneath his cheeks. He'd had enough of it, enough of being famous, enough of going from being ignored to being starred at as if he was a goldfish in a bowl, enough of not knowing what to expect, enough of just going along with things like driftwood on a river, floating along with no real purpose or direction. He leaned against the door. He figured he'd stay for a few minutes to regain his composure. Outside he heard racing footsteps and whispers. There was a knock at the door. He opened it.  
"Are you really Harry Potter?" A dark haired, snub-nosed little girl asked. "The boy in the next compartment to me asked me to ask you" she explained breathlessly. A group of first years behind her gasped and dived back into their own compartments.  
"NO!" Harry screamed. "I'm Tommy bloody Thayer!" and stormed out back down to the carriage Ron was in.

Oh no, Hermione was back, standing in the doorway of Ron's compartment. "_I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"_ she said pointing at Ron then pushed past Harry with an important air. Harry sat back down opposite Ron. "Any better?" The red hired boy asked.  
"Yeah thanks" Harry lied.  
"Ignore her she's just stuck up" Ron said referring to Hermione.  
"It's not her, it's everybody" he said noticing another gang of first years gathering outside the compartment. Ron looked awkward, as if he didn't know what to say.  
"Well we're nearly there" he said breaking the silence. "We'd better get changed".

Eventually the train pulled into a station. 'OK' thought Harry, 'this is it'. Stepping down to the platform he saw a familiar face. It was Hagrid. Harry's stomach jumped with nerves again. Once Hagrid had instructed the first years to follow him he took the opportunity to be the first to do so. Everyone was climbing into little boats. This whole scene looked familiar again. They were floating on to a lake, just like the one Harry saw in his dream. Unfortunately Hermione chose to sit in the same boat as he and Ron did. She was followed by Neville. Harry smiled politely and sat in awe of his surroundings. They were drawing near to a huge castle. 'That can't be it' Harry thought. 'That's the school?'  
"Oh it's just as wonderful as they say in the books" Hermione squealed annoyingly.

After a short journey they climbed on to the harbour and Harry looked around him in the darkness. The pale, blonde boy he briefly saw in Diagon Alley was standing behind him, wide eyed. He was in the middle of two largely built boys who looked like bodyguards. They were even bigger than Dudley and Harry couldn't help but wonder if they could punch his cousin out. He turned to face Hagrid who knocked on two enormous doors. They were made of dark wood and elaborately decorated. A tall witch opened one of the doors, introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and led them into a chamber where they were told to wait to be called to get sorted into houses in front of the whole school. This was just what Harry needed, wrestling with a troll in front of the entire school. He felt his legs buckle and held on to Ron.

*Lyrics taken from I Am The Walrus. Written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney. Parlophone records.


	3. Chapter 2 - Welcome Home

Chapter Two: Welcome Home

After being scared even further by a bunch of silvery ghosts the new first years strolled through an enormous doorway into the main hall which was utterly breathtaking to look at. Harry's nerves began to dissolve slightly when he realised that the sorting ceremony consisted of sitting on a stool underneath an old talking hat. However it did also occur to him that he hat might have teeth or that he might not get sorted at all. The new students took their place on the stool one by one each getting sorted into Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. Hermione seemed very eager to get sorted but the hat took what seemed like forever with her. People started to look awkward and whisper. McGonagall shushed them. Finally the hat spoke "GRYFFINDOR!" Hermione looked very pleased but Ron, standing next to Harry, grunted. Hermione then joined the Gryffindor table to sounds of applause. "All my brothers are in Gryffindor. It's where my whole family have always been I bet I'll get stuck with her now" said Ron. Harry was too nervous to respond so just briefly glanced at the red haired boy and bit his bottom lip. Several more were sorted and joined their respective tables to sounds of cheering with Neville also into Gryffindor.

The blonde haired boy Harry saw in Diagon Alley walked up behind him and smiled. "You look worried" he said. Harry nodded. "Don't be. The hat knows what it's doing. You're Harry Potter aren't you?" the boy said. "Yes I'm afraid I am" said Harry. He was pleased to hear, however, that the blonde boy didn't question him any further than that. Harry felt he might have screamed if he did. "I'm Draco Malfoy, pleased to meet you" he whispered and shook Harry's hand. Oh god, Harry was having one of those odd visions again - this time of refusing to shake Draco's hand as if he had said something to offend him. What was all that about? He just wanted to go to bed. Get all this over with. It was the most nerve wracking moment of his entire life. Also Ron started to snigger again and Harry had no idea why. Draco was about to speak up in defence when McGonagall called his name.

"That's me" said Draco, "just watch - there's nothing to it" and after a brief glare in Ron's direction he swaggered forward and sat casually on the stool as if he was merely about to get a hair cut. The hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"  
Ron groaned. "What now?" Harry asked feeling even more anxious.

"Well it's just that Slytherin was the house that-"

"Potter, Harry!"- Holding up the hat, McGonagall interrupted Ron. Harry felt his stomach drop. He checked the floor to ensure his intestines hadn't fallen out then slowly crept up on to the stool.

He closed his eyes and sat holding on to the sides of the stool tightly. After what seemed like an eternity the hat spoke:

_"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. _

_There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting...  
So where shall I put you?"_

Silence ensued and the hall was so quiet Harry could swear they heard his racing heart.

_"You could be great you know" _the hat continued.

"Me?" Harry whispered.

"Yes you" the hat chuckled. "You'll need a house to help you overcome this self doubt though". Silence continued. Finally the hat shouted out Harry's house to the entire school -"SLYTHERIN!" Harry couldn't hear his heart racing any more as the Slytherin table went crazy, whooping and cheering. Draco punched the air in glee.

Harry quickly moved over to the Slytherin table and sat next to Draco who offered him an empty seat. "See, he said, told you there was nothing to it".

"Welcome to Slytherin, Potter" said a tall fifth year prefect.

"Thanks" Harry whispered. "I'm just glad all that's over with".

They watched the remaining few students get sorted with Ron looking uncertain as he was put into Gryffindor and the last Slytherin student, Blaise, Zabini happily joining Harry's table and greeting him with a nod.

Finally they got to enjoy a feast. Harry had never seen so much food and, once again, wondered what Dudley would be thinking if he saw this.

"Wow" Harry grinned. "We can eat as much as we like?"

"Of course" replied Draco. "The house elves prepared it".

"House elves?" Harry asked.

"They work in the kitchens, they're servants, my family owns one" said Draco.

Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of this but tucked in to his supper with a ravenous appetite.

"Didn't the muggles feed you?" Draco asked.

"They did" Harry said, through a mouthful of mashed potato, "but not like this. My cousin Dudley ate enough for both of us".

"That's disgusting" Draco replied, wrinkling his nose.

The two larger boys shuffled in their seats slightly at the sound of this. Harry glanced up at them briefly.

"Where are my manners?" Draco laughed. "Harry Potter, this is Vincent Crabbe and this is Gregory Goyle" he said pointing to each boy in turn.

"Hello", Harry smiled, trying to chew on a chicken leg. The large boys didn't say anything, just nodded.

"They don't say much" Draco explained but they're useful in their own ways".

Harry didn't quite feel comfortable enough yet to ask what Draco meant by 'useful', especially in front of Crabbe and Goyle, so let the subject drop.

Suddenly Draco yelled in terror. Harry shivered as he felt a cold wind wrap over him. Slytherin's house ghost, The Bloody Baron, had sat next to him. "Hello there", said the blood splattered spectre. "Welcome to Slytherin House. This was my house, I'm always thrilled to see new students".

Draco didn't seem so thrilled. Harry forced a smile in the Baron's direction then glanced over at the Gryffindor table. Ron was smirking at the boys' discomfort. Harry wondered why he was being so mean and shot him a quizzical look. Ron just turned to Neville and continued talking. Hermione was deep in conversation with Ron's haughty prefect brother.

Harry then moved his gaze over to the teacher's table and noticed a dark haired, hooked nosed man briefly glance in his direction. The dark-haired man glanced back at Professor Quirrell, the dark arts teacher whom Harry met in the pub.

"Who's that?" Harry asked Draco.

"Professor Snape" Draco replied. "He's our head of house. You'll be in good hands with him. He's the potions teacher".

"Do you know him then?" Harry asked.

"Well my dad does, he's been to our house a few times. They went to school together."

"Your dad's a wizard?" Harry asked keenly.

"Oh yes all my family, well nearly all, were in Slytherin. They all went to Hogwarts". Harry smiled pensively. "That must be great - having magical parents" he said.

"It is" Draco nodded. They taught me a lot".

After a short moment of silence Draco asked "what was it like? Living with muggles I mean".

"Horrible" Harry replied. "They treated me like I was crazy or had some disease or something".

"Are they all like that?" Draco asked.

"What, muggles? I don't know, most of them I guess. I never got on with any in muggle primary school either. They used to pick on me".

"What for?" Draco raised his voice slightly in annoyance.

"That's just the way they were. My teachers all told me I was thick. They use to clout me over the head".

Draco grimaced. "Well they won't do that here" he said firmly. Harry hoped Draco was right and smiled briefly. The two little boys sat in comfortable conversation for some time about the difference between the muggle toys and wizard toys they played with when they were younger.

Suddenly, after a very enjoyable desert, Dumbledore interrupted. He went on about the ForbiddenForest, spell casting in corridors and quiddich.

_"I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."_ He continued. Harry and Draco burst out laughing.

"That guy's a hoot" Harry said.

"He's a crazy old coot" Draco replied.

Nobody else seemed to find it funny however least of all Ron who kept shooting Harry filthy looks.

"What's up with him I wonder?" Draco sneered.

"No idea" Harry replied. "He was ok on the train coming here."

"I bet he's a Weasley" Draco continued.

"He is" Harry confirmed placing his desert spoon down on his empty plate.

"Well that explains it" Draco scoffed folding his arms and sitting back in his chair.

Harry was about to ask Draco what he meant when they were interrupted by the most annoying song Harry had ever heard in his life. He and Draco just sat there dumfounded while everyone from year two up started chiming on about _'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty Hogwarts'_. The two Slytherin boys cringed and sunk down into their seats with embarrassment. Dumbledore then bid everyone goodnight and the first years were shown to their common rooms by prefects.

"I hope it's as wonderful as my parents said it was" Draco whispered as they walked down winding corridors and steps into what appeared to be the dungeons.

"It's a bit dark down here" Harry commented nervously.

"Don't worry" Draco assured him. "Once we're in the common room we'll be right at home".

Finally the new Slytherins arrived at another huge set of wooden, carved doors under an enormous archway. 'Dragon's Fire' the prefect muttered and the doors opened to present the most glorious room Harry had ever seen. Draco looked as pleased as Harry felt. Crabbe and Goyle stood either side of the two smaller boys like bookends. "You can go" Draco motioned. The thickly set boys moved away to explore the common room. Harry wondered at the power Draco seemed to have over them. The small, fair haired boy did a twirl, his black robes billowing behind him.

"If I might have your attention," the prefect called, "your belongings have been taken up to your dorm already. You have each been assigned a bed and you will find your new uniforms on them. Any questions, please ask one of us prefects only don't wake us in the middle of the night unless its and emergency".

Harry thought he seemed as haughty as Ron's prefect brother.

Harry then noticed the dark haired, snub nosed little girl he saw on the train with another dark haired but slightly prettier first year in the far corner of the room. They were talking intensely and kept glancing over at Draco and Harry. Harry didn't take too much notice of them and remained rooted to the spot in awe of his surroundings. The whole room was enormous - as big as the Dursley's house both upstairs and downstairs combined. It was Greco-Roman in architecture with ornate stone carvings, ivy bowers and huge blue-green windows. It was immaculately clean and tidy with several large, dark-green leather chairs and mahogany tables. The fire place was as big as one of Harry's bedroom walls and flickered invitingly. Animal skulls adorned the mantelpiece. Draco noticed them and ran over to get a closer look "wow cool" he said picking one of them up and examining it.

"Be careful with those" the prefect shouted across the room at the little blonde boy. Draco put it back and pulled a face. Harry's mouth was wide open.

"You do like it don't you?" Draco checked not knowing what to make of Harry's amazed expression.

"It's fantastic" Harry smiled. "Dudley would piss himself if he saw this".

Draco smirked and sat in front of the fire on one of the comfy chars. Harry followed suit, sat down and ran his hands over the smooth leather admiring its texture.

"Oi, you two!" the prefect yelled again "bed - now!" The two first year boys sighed and dragged themselves over to the dorm steps. "Please follow me", the prefect said motioning to the stairs. "First year dorms this way". Harry, Draco and the other first year boys followed the prefect down a short flight of stone stairs which led to a huge stone walled room full of four poster beds. "Wow" Harry whispered as he looked around him. Each of the beds were draped with dark green velvet curtains while the bedspreads were a lighter shade of green and looked silken. Draco was grinning from ear to ear. Heavy looking, mahogany, wooden trunks lay the bottom of each bed and matching bedside tables, with green shaded lamps, stood on either side of each bed. Their bags, belonging and pets had been placed neatly at the right hand side of their beds. Their clothes had been ironed and hung in their individual wardrobes which were made of the same colour wood as the chests. Their new Slytherin uniforms were neatly folded on the bed next to fresh, soft, white towels. Across every wall beautiful, medieval tapestries hung picturing ancient witches and wizards. "That's Merlin!" Draco squealed excitedly and pointed at a figure in the tapestry which hung directly over Harry's bed. "Merlin? Harry asked feeling puzzled. "Yes he used to go to Hogwarts he was in Slytherin too".

"Brilliant" Harry smiled. "I thought he was just a myth?"

"Merlin, a _myth_?" Draco scoffed at the very idea. "What have those muggles been teaching you?"

"Everything but the truth it would seem" Harry said.

Harry still felt a sadness of what had gone before in is life with the cruel muggles but was glad that he was finally in a place in which he felt he belonged. He had no idea Slytherin house would be so cool. Draco went hopping playfully up to the far end of the room but was called back by the prefect "Malfoy! Your bed is here" he said pointing to the bed next to Harry's. Draco purposely ignored him for a moment then came hopping back and jumped on his bed. "This is almost as nice as my bed at home" he said.

"Your bed is nicer than this?" Harry was shocked. Each dorm bed was the size of his whole bedroom in Little Whinging. Another one over on Dudley. Oh the satisfaction.

"Potter?" The prefect interrupted and beckoned Harry towards him. Harry thought he must have done something wrong.

"I know this is strange for you coming from such a…troubled past with muggles but you can rest assured we will look out for your best interests here. Saying that we won't treat you any differently from the other students. That wouldn't be fair to you or them" he said sternly.

"I don't expect special treatment" Harry responded openly. "In fact I wish people would stop treating me as if I'm a king or something".

"That won't happen in Slytherin House" the prefect assured Harry. "I can't promise the other students will behave themselves but Slytherins always know how to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner".

Harry felt the prefect was being a little haughty again.

"We're all friends here Potter", the prefect continued. "We don't fight amongst ourselves like the other houses, we don't try to get one over on a housemate. I want you to know you're welcome here, in Slytherin. We're happy to have you".

"I'm glad the hat put me here" Harry smiled. "It feels right - like I've been waiting to come back to this place somehow".

The prefect's haughty expression changed to a genuine smile. "Welcome home" he said and then bid all the new first year boys goodnight.


	4. Chapter 3 - The Wrong Victim

Chapter 3 – The Wrong Victim 

Harry slept relatively soundly his first night at Hogwarts. He had the usual nightmares but what else was new? He did, however, rather regret eating quite so much at supper as he figured that was what triggered off the Dudley dream. He was back in Little Whinging again sat at the dining room table. No-one at the table was eating apart from Dudley who was being fed by Uncle Vernon via a garden shovel. He was piling more and more food onto Dudley's plate which the little bugger ate with a vengeance. Harry was sitting opposite him and had only a boiled egg on his plate. Suddenly Dudley said "I'm full". Now that was something Harry had never heard Dudley say before. Aunt Petunia said "oh but you haven't eaten your pudding darling" so she herself staring shovelling black forest gateau into her son's mouth. Suddenly there was a strange squeaking sound like a balloon inflating then – bang! Dudley exploded. A great big chunk of him landed on Harry's plate.

Harry didn't have much of an appetite that morning at breakfast and Draco kept looking at him strangely, wondering why he kept his hand over his mouth and didn't even want to look at food.

The next few days went pretty well. They'd been introduced to Herbology, Charms, Defence Against The Dark Arts and Transfiguration. Each night Harry and Draco would lie awake for around half an hour chatting before they nodded off to sleep. Harry also found out what Draco meant about Crabbe and Goyle being 'useful'. One morning, coming into the main hall, several Hufflepuff students started whispering Harry's name and pointing.

_"There, look."  
"Where?"  
_"Next to the blonde kid."  
_"Wearing the glasses?"  
"Did you see his face?"  
"Did you see his scar?"_

Crabbe and Goyle sauntered over to the offending students and stared at them. Very rarely would they have to say anything to get people to move out of Harry's way. The fact that they were twice the size of an average eleven year old was quite enough to scare the other kids off. An average day for Harry would consist of walking down to breakfast guarded by Crabbe and Goyle, sitting with Draco and then chatting while the two bigger boys sat in silence. The two smaller boys would then get escorted to and from lessons by their bodyguards. If Ron ever saw the four of them together he'd stop and snigger then run off again when Crabbe and Goyle looked at him. Occasionally Crabbe and Goyle would skip lessons and play truant. Harry and Draco, by contrast, worked their butts off.

The night before their first potions lesson Harry and Draco ensured they revised thoroughly to impress their head of house. They took it in turns to read from their books and then test each other. By the end of that night they had fallen asleep on top of their bed covers each with a potions book in their little hands. Harry did not sleep well that night. He kept seeing the green light and this time a huge mirror. In his dream he was also writing a list of different ways in which he might be able to kill the Dursleys again. He woke with a start.

"Bugger!"

"Pardon me?" Draco asked rubbing his eyes.

"It's a double lesson with Gryffindor this morning. Ron'll be there".

"So?" Draco asked grumpily.

"He hates me. I don't know why but he hates me".

"What did I say about the Weasley's?" Draco asked rhetorically.

"Well, you didn't say anything actually" Harry reminded him.

"They're fake and they love muggles. Arthur Weasley, Ron's dad, works for the Ministry of Magic in muggle artefacts".

"What the heck are muggle artefacts?" Harry asked.

"A totally useless and pointless department if it's run by an idiot like Arthur Weasley" Draco grimaced. "The whole point of the job is to stop people using muggle things for magical purposes. They aren't built for magic and can get us into trouble, revealing our secrets".

"Oh yeah", Harry remembered, "Hagrid said that we're a secret so muggles don't go around hunting us down for help all the time".

"Or worse" Draco added. "Years ago we'd have been burned at the stake or drowned".

Harry gulped.

"Just because somebody is a wizard doesn't mean you can trust them" Draco said pulling on his robes. "If they get too friendly with muggles all hell could break loose. You don't want to mix with the wrong sort and Ron is the wrong sort. All the Weasley's are".

"The twins seem ok" Harry piped.

"Hmph. I suppose, but they're still Weasleys" said Draco.

After a working breakfast, in which they re-read their potions books and tested each other again, the two little Slytherin boys strolled off to Potions Class guarded in the usual manner by Crabbe and Goyle. Harry was exceedingly nervous but Draco insisted they sit right at the front of the room. Actually that wasn't a terrible idea because then they didn't see Ron and Hermione come in. Harry felt Ron's eyes though staring into his back and his spine tingled. Professor Snape took the register then when it came to Harry made on odd little remark: _"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity_."

Harry wondered if it was some sort of a joke. Their head of house then gave a very impressive speech that sounded reminiscent of Shakespeare which had Draco enthralled. Snape then turned to Harry quickly and asked _"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"_

"The Drought of Living Death" sir Harry muttered.

Draco smirked admiringly.

_"Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" _

"In the stomach of a goat sir" Harry said with more confidence this time.

_"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"_

Harry was about to answer when Snape yelled "sit down" to a student over Harry's shoulder which tuned out to be Hermione. Harry turned to see a very disappointed little girl being consoled by none other than Ronald Weasley who shot Harry another one of his dirty looks and whispered something about Snape having 'favourites'. The potions master repeated the question.

"There's no difference sir, they are the same plant" said Harry.

Draco sat back with a satisfied sigh and gave Harry a quick nod of approval. Snape turned to the rest of the class _"clearly fame isn't everything"_ he said with a raised eyebrow. After a strange little feeling of déjà vu finally Harry understood what Snape had been trying to do and hoped it would work. Harry was so sick of needing bodyguards, so sick of being known as just The Boy Who Lived, so sick of being famous. Fame wasn't everything to him, it was nothing and, like the prefect said, he should be treated in the same way as everyone else. Snape had very cleverly made that point. Harry wasn't just famous, he was a good student.

For the remainder of the lesson they were separated into pairs. Draco and Harry got to work together. Hermione and Ron asked to be a pair but Snape refused insisting they were a 'bad influence on one another' and due to their 'sulking' one point each would be deducted from Gryffindor. Draco giggled quietly into his cauldron.

"Ron's so two faced", said Harry softly, passing Draco snake fangs. "He told me he didn't like Hermione now he's her best friend. It's just to piss me off".

"He's jealous", said Draco. "Ignore him".

The lesson got better and better as Draco and Harry's cure for boils was brewed to perfection and Snape used their results to show the rest of the class how it 'should be done.' This made Ron and Hermione sulk even more especially as Hermione had been placed with Neville Longbottom who cocked up his potion and gave himself and Hermione a case of boils. Another two points were deducted from Gryffindor and at the end of the lesson Hermione left arm in arm with Ron in a huff.

As the months went by, Harry became more and more comfortable at Hogwarts until one very strange day indeed. Slytherin had double charms class with Professor Flitwick and Gryffindor. Harry's heart sank as he walked through the doors to the classroom and saw Hermione and Ron sitting there looking through text books and whispering as if giving each other advice. When Professor Flitwick asked the class to perform a levitation spell both Hermione and Ron got it right straight off. That was all the Gryffindor pair needed to get one over on Harry who was struggling with Draco to even pronounce the spell correctly.

"See what I mean" said Draco after class. "They're a bloody nightmare. "Weasley and his muggle-loving father and Granger the mudblood. Typical muggle influence".

"What's a mudblood?" Harry asked.

"It's what we call someone who's muggle born. Granger has muggle parents" Draco explained.

Harry imagined all sorts of unpleasant things including losing trust for muggles completely.

That evening everyone was casually enjoying dinner when Professor Quirrell screamed something about a troll on the loose and everyone had to rush back to their common room. Hermione, Ron and Neville were the first to leave, looking like the three of them were now joined at the hip like Siamese triplets. Harry and Draco made their way down to the dungeons quickly but carefully.

"You know if Ron and Hermione go out in a wind their faces will stick like that" Harry said crossly.

"That I would like to see" Draco laughed.

"Then they'd both look as miserable as McGonagall" Harry said.

Once back in their dorm Harry and Draco sat quietly on their beds biting their nails while most of the other students remained in the common room. "Do you think it's dead yet?" Blaise Zabini whispered. He had come down to sit next to Draco.

"How would I know?" Draco snapped. "Quirrell is an idiot; I doubt he'll catch it. Professor Snape might".

"Or Dumbledore" suggested Harry.

The three boys sat in silence for a while, thinking.

"I bet it's huge. I bet it eats people alive" said Blaise.

"Shut up" yelled Draco. "You're making me feel sick".

"Sorry, I'm just saying" said Blaise and sauntered back to his bed.

The hours ticked by slowly. Harry started to drift off to sleep and experience more weird dreams. This time he was in the girl's bathroom with Hermione and Ron killing the troll. Then he was playing a game of giant chess, chasing flying keys and looking in a magical mirror while holding a red stone. He woke up with a gasp as he had an image of touching Professor Quirrell's face and burning him alive. "What, where am I what time is it?" He demanded.

"Calm down Harry it's 7am. We've been in our dorms all night. There was a troll, remember?" Said Draco, sitting up in bed.

Harry rubbed his scar which seemed to be aching.

"Oh yes, of course. The troll. Is it dead?" He was interrupted by Bernard Hudson the fifth year prefect who had shown them to the dorms on their first day.

"Boys, I need you to come with me. The troll is dead. Professor Dumbledore has asked us to all meet in the main hall for an early breakfast". Draco and Harry looked at each other in nervousness. Had the troll bred before it died? Had it wrecked the castle? What was going on? There were whispers and panic throughout the common room. Everybody had a theory.

On the way down to breakfast the atmosphere grew tenser. The main hall was eerily quiet.

"Please take your seats quickly" asked Dumbledore.

One by one everybody trailed in whispering and shuffling awkwardly. Finally the hall fell silent as everybody gazed towards the teachers' table.

"Boys and girls, it is with great regret that I bring you sad news today" the headmaster said solemnly. Whispers started to grow again. Dumbledore held up his hand to silence them. "The troll that was roaming the school yesterday has been killed. You are no longer in danger. However I am afraid we have suffered a tragedy in the process".

Whispers started again. Dumbledore interrupted them.

"Professor Quirrell has passed away".

Harry felt an odd churning in his stomach and everyone in the hall gasped.

"The troll was seen going into the girls' toilets so Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell all went to hunt it down" the headmaster explained. "Unfortunately Professor Quirrell did not make it. The troll heard them coming and, armed with sinks he'd torn away from the wall, knocked them all to the ground unconscious. Professor Snape came around fairly quickly and killed it but by then it was too late - Professor Quirrell had been eaten. Well, that is, all apart from his head. The troll didn't seem to want that so we have cremated it and placed his ashes in the grounds of the school. No-one else has been harmed. I am very sorry to bring you this sad news. Please rest easy today. Take the day off. Classes have been cancelled. There will be a memorial service for the Professor this evening".

Nobody ate much for breakfast that morning. Everybody decided to head back to their common room. Harry overheard Fred and George Weasley discussing the situation in the corridors "They worked quickly didn't they?" Said Fred.

"I know, dead and buried in 12 hours" said George.

"Why do you suppose the troll didn't eat Quirrell's head?" asked Fred.

"I don't know but I think it was something to do with that turban he wore and that funny smell that came from it. I overheard him talking to himself a few times as well".

Harry and Draco grimaced at the twin's conversation. Harry felt déjà vu-y again.

"Why didn't they just burry the head as it was?" suggested George.

"Instead of cremating it you mean?" Fred asked.

"Exactly"

"Maybe they were trying to…"

"Hide something!" the both said together.

Harry and Draco had heard enough and ran back to the Slytherin common room.

The next few months went by quite happily, they'd learned to ride a broomstick, learned to levitate objects correctly and best of all watched a quidditch match in which Slytherin won, gaining them more house points. Now Harry knew what a Nimbus 2000 was for. The quidditch match would have been the highlight of Harry's year had he not fainted half way through it. He'd been having dreams the previous night of being in Gryffindor and getting into a fight with Draco who was still in Slytherin. As a result of the fight he found himself up in the air on his broom chasing a ball Draco was holding which led Harry to be given the position of seeker on the Gryffindor quidditch team. It was especially strange as it reminded him of the real flying lesson he'd had with Gryffindor and Madame Hooch a few weeks previously. Harry and Draco did very well but Neville ended up falling off his broom and breaking his wrist after which a ball from Neville's pocket rolled down to Harry's feet so he ran after Neville with it. The déjà vu feeling during the quidditch match, therefore, was so weird and intense (as if he was seeing himself in parallel again, this time flying around on a Nimbus 2000) that he passed out. Professor Snape and Draco managed to bring him around. Harry made an excuse for his faint and said he didn't have any breakfast that morning but Draco knew that wasn't true. Harry had eaten like a horse since he got to Hogwarts. So much so he'd lost his skinniness entirely and was now a healthy weight. The house elves had to provide him with a bigger uniform.

"OK Potter spill" Draco insisted as they walked back to the castle after the match.

"What? What do you mean 'spill' and why are you calling me 'Potter'? You always call me Harry".

"I don't know", Draco said shaking his head his head but Harry felt Draco knew something more than he was letting on. "Look Pot- Harry, you've been acting strangely since you got here, having funny turns, going quiet one minute then being ok the next. What's wrong with you? You haven't got some muggle disease have you?" Draco suddenly looked very scared and backed away from Harry.

"What? No, of course not" Harry said. "I just get bad dreams is all. You know that though I've told you often enough. I've accidentally woken you up screaming loads of times".

"That doesn't explain your funny quiet moods or the fainting thing today".

"Yes it does" said Harry, "I'm tired, I'm not sleeping properly".

Draco took another step backwards. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Look", Harry said in a slightly calmer tone, "if it makes you feel better I'll go and see Madame Pomfrey. "You can come with me…she'll tell you I'm fine. Anyway…" Harry went on…"you get your moods, especially in the morning; you're as grumpy as hell. And you moan when things don't go your way but I don't care because you're my friend. If I can put up with your bad bits you can put up with mine!"

"Oh so now this is all my fault?" said Draco, "I'm the bad person?"

"No one's the bad person!" Harry yelled but Draco stormed off towards the castle leaving Harry behind in shock.

"I'm going to find out what's going on Potter!" Draco yelled strangely from a few yards away. "Just you see if I don't!"

Both the little boys looked very hurt.

* my character

**Thanks to all who have been following me/this story so far and for your nice comments and PMs. It's been very encouraging. **


	5. Chapter 4 - Useful Gifts

Chapter Four – Useful Gifts

Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of the argument he'd just had with Draco so sat down on a bench outside the castle to think. Maybe Draco wouldn't be his friend any more - Harry's only friend ever. Maybe he'd go back to being lonely again as he was with the Dursleys. He was hurt by what Draco said though and didn't know how to put this right. The words 'have you got a muggle disease?' kept ringing in his head. That's the exact sort of thing The Dursleys would accuse him of - insanity. The muggles did it and now the wizards are doing it. He felt stuck: halfway between a rock and a hard place. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted.

"You alright there Harry?" Came a friendly, familiar voice from behind. "You look a bit glum." Harry turned to see Fred Weasley standing behind him with a sympathetic smile.

"Oh hi" Harry said gloomily. "I'm ok". He could feel his throat clenching up as he fought back tears.

"Here have, a sweet," Fred said and offered Harry a Bertie Botts Every Flavour bean.

"Thanks" Harry said and picked out what appeared to be a cabbage flavour bean. He squirmed as he tasted it.

"You've had a quarrel with your little friend Malfoy haven't you?" Fred asked half teasing. Harry just nodded. "He's worried about you," Fred told Harry as George walked up behind his brother.

"What do you mean? How do you know?"

"Coz I just bumped into him. He asked the way to the hospital wing and when I asked why, he said he was worried about you having some muggle disease". "Worried?" Harry asked realising what Draco's intentions were.

"Well he more…_demanded_ we tell him really than ask nicely," George said placing his hands in is pockets. "If you hurry now you'll catch him," he nodded towards the castle and gave Harry directions to the hospital wing. That was twice the twins had been nice to Harry now. He remembered being helped by them on to the train on his first day when no one else bothered to.

Harry leapt eagerly off the bench and ran into the castle, up the many winding stairs and down corridors until he reached the hospital wing. Sure enough there was Draco walking towards the hospital door. "Draco, wait!" He yelled. Draco turned and glanced at his friend then carried on walking away from him.

"Hang on" called Harry, "I'm getting out of breath," and he ran up to Draco patting him on the shoulder. "Sorry" Harry said, breathlessly, I though you were being like the Dursleys".

"Me like a muggle?" Draco snarled.

"No I mean…" Harry stopped to catch his breath "…they used to accuse me of being crazy. I thought you were doing the same thing."

"And I thought you were taking me for granted" yelped Draco with tears in his voice. "You said I don't put up with your bad bits. It's all I ever do Harry! That's what friends do!"

"I know" Harry said, "I realise that now and I'm sorry. I know you meant well. I took it wrong way. Mates?" He asked.

Draco looked away as if battling with his pride and new-found sense of camaraderie then turned back to Harry. "Of course" said Draco and shook hands with his friend.

"Look…I'm not sick, honest, I'm just tired" Harry reiterated.

"OK, fine," Draco said with a sigh. "Think you should still talk to Pomfrey though."

"Sure no problem" Harry agreed.

They knocked on the door. Harry rubbed his head. "Gosh I've got a headache now," he said.

Draco's eyes widened and then he started hopping anxiously from foot to foot. The door swung open and a nurse let the two little boys in. Draco screamed and ran towards Madame Pomfrey "ARGH! Madame Pomfrey Harry has this terrible muggle disease it's where you get really sick and you have to go into muggle hospital to have stuff squirted into your blood to make it go away and then your hair falls out it's a brain turmeric I think he just said he's got a headache he keeps seeing things and having funny dreams and he's ok one minute and not the next and I don't think there's anything you can do because its from muggles and he'll probably die and then…" cutting Draco off mid spiel Madame Pomfrey quickly but carefully held Draco's nose with one hand and poured liquid into his mouth with the other. The little blonde boy fell backwards onto a bed.

"Harry Potter…what can I do for you?" She asked calmly.

"Wait a minute what have you done to Draco?" Harry asked feeling concerned.

"He's fine Mr Potter he's just been given a sleeping draught. I simply couldn't have hysterics like that in here I have patients to tend to."

"Will he be ok?"

"Of course. He'll wake up in few hours. What seems to be the problem?"

Harry shifted in discomfort and sat on the bed next to his unconscious friend. "Well…I fainted just now during quidditch. I've got a headache too".

"You _are_ a little pale," said Pomfrey placing the back of her hand against Harry's forehead "and sweaty, but that's to be expected after a faint. Have you eaten properly today?" she asked taking his pulse.

"Yes I have …"

"Do you get these headaches a lot?"

"No just today. Just now"

"Any other symptoms?"

"Well I get these visions…"Harry trailed off

"Visions?" asked Pomfrey with a serious tone. "What sort of visions?"

"Well it's like sometimes they're nightmares and sometimes it's like I'm seeing them in the day only I'm not really seeing them I more feel them, like a memory that hasn't happened yet. Like I'm living two lives at once. In parallel."

"And definitely no headaches or blurred vision with these symptoms?" she asked shining a light in his eyes.

"No, not at all, apart from the nightmares and feeling tired I'm fine."

Pomfrey sat back and sighed. "It could be just stress," she said. "I'm going to give you a tonic and I want you to come back and see me next week. You've been through a lot Mr Potter it wouldn't surprise me if you were stressed."

"I suppose so," said Harry all the while feeling there was more to this than stress. "Can I wait for Draco to wake up?"

"Of course" said Pomfrey kindly and patted Harry's hand. Harry moved over to the chair next to the bed Draco was lying on.

"Anyway", Harry added, "when he wakes up he'll start panicking again."

"Don't worry Mr Potter, I'll convince him it's not a brain turmeric" Pomfrey smiled.

While Harry was waiting for Draco to come around Madame Pomfrey gave him chocolate chip cookies and a glass of orange juice. When Draco eventually woke up he was immediately calmed down by Pomfrey who insisted that a brain tumour wasn't likely to be the cause of Harry's symptoms. Draco still seemed a little uneasy but convinced enough to try to carry on a normal. That night, in the dorm, the two Slytherins talked about the days events with trepidation. It was difficult to broach the subject as both boys were feeling embarrassed at what had occurred but eventually Draco felt brave enough to speak up. "Harry…what are these visions you get?" he asked avoiding Harry's gaze

"I don't know. They don't make any sense," Harry said sitting up on his bed.

"Are they like visions of the future?"

"Don't think so" said Harry, deep in thought. "It's more like visions of things that are happening but not happening." At the quidditch match I saw myself flying around as a seeker only I was in Gryffindor and Gryffindor won."

Draco scratched his head. "Do you see us fighting over stuff, like we're enemies?" He asked

"Yes!" said Harry "Why? How do you know?"

"Because I see that too", said Draco gazing down at his feet.

"You what?" Asked Harry leaning forward with eagerness.

"I know it sounds weird but at the match, as we were walking back to the castle I kind of saw or felt a different me and a different you. I can't explain it either. I think that's why I called you 'Potter'. It just came out, I don't know where from. I don't want us to end up like real enemies" Draco said.

"We won't" said Harry. "Wait a minute - if you're seeing things as well why did you think I had a brain tumour?"

"I thought I caught it off you" said the little blonde boy covering his face with embarrassment.

"You can't catch tumours" said Harry

"I know that now" said Draco sharply. "Madame Pomfrey thinks it's just stress. It can't be though if we're both seeing the same things."

"Why didn't you tell her this?" Harry said feeling irritated and bemused.

"I felt stupid."

"You looked stupid," Harry said.

Draco sensed the humour in Harry's voice so didn't bite back. Instead he apologised.

"Let's forget it now, just get some sleep, we'll figure it out tomorrow".

After turning out their lamps and lying in silence for a moment Draco spoke up again.

"I don't think we'll be real enemies" he said. "You're the only person who's called me stupid and got away with it".

"And you're the only person I know who could put up with me waking them up in the night screaming."

"I guess we're ok then."

"Nothing to worry about there" said Harry and the two boys drifted off to sleep.

The following week Harry and Draco returned to see Madame Pomfrey as planned. Draco was calmer this time. In fact he seemed a little dumbstruck.

"How are we feeling Mr Potter? Any more headaches?"

"No not one" said Harry. I'm still getting those visions though." He glanced at Draco who was tight lipped then elbowed him in the ribs.

"So am I" said the blonde boy quickly.

"Both of you?" asked Pomfrey looking from boy to boy and back again.

"About the same things, sort of," Harry confirmed "so how can it be stress?"

"It's still possible if you are spending so much time together and you talk about the same things". Said Pomfrey. "You're imaginations could be feeding off each other".

"It's not our imagination," the boys echoed each other.

"Then I'm afraid this is not my department. I suggest you speak to Professor Snape or Professor Dumbledore".

Harry and Draco became nervous again

"Is it something serious?" asked Draco.

"I doubt it" Pomfrey tried to avoid another hysterical outburst. But if you want clarification I would ask your head of house or the headmaster. I don't think this is a medical issue. You both seem in good health".

Harry and Draco sped from the hospital wing to Professor Snape's office in record time.

"Enter," came a voice from behind a thickly carved, dark wood door in the dungeons.

"Potter, Malfoy, what can I do for you?" asked Snape as the two little boys made their way into his office.

"Professor we need to ask you something," said Harry cautiously.

"Take a seat," Snape motioned to two empty chairs in front of his desk.

"Sir we…well we…" began Harry with nervous paranoia.

Draco became tight lipped again.

"You'd like me to read your minds?" Snape asked.

"No Sir...we, I, um…it's to do with the fainting thing the other week" said Harry

"I hope you are not feeling unwell Potter."

"No Sir, it's not like that."

"We think we're seeing things Sir" the boys echoed again, looking at each other in surprise of their growing affinity.

"Seeing- things -?" asked Snape slowly.

Both boys started a spiel of what they thought the problem might be, drowning each other out.

"If just one of you could speak first," Snape suggested.

"It started with me Sir," said Harry. "I'm having dreams about things and that day I fainted I kind of saw something, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"We think we're…" they began together again but Snape made a slicing motion through the air to silence them and turned his head towards Harry.

"Potter…?"

"I saw myself Sir on a Nimbus 2000 in Gryffindor robes and I've seen myself fighting the troll and looking in a mirror holding a red stone"

Professor Snape raised an eyebrow "a red stone?"

"Yes I got it by looking in a magical mirror then I saw myself…" he cut himself off feeling unable to continue"…burning Professor Quirrell to death but by accident Sir."

The potions master sat back in his chair looking perplexed. "Malfoy?" he asked turning to the blonde boy.

"I've seen myself arguing with Harry but Harry is in Gryffindor not Slytherin. I haven't seen anything else it's mainly Harry who's seeing stuff."

Snape stood up and started to pace. Harry fidgeted nervously.

"You won't tell my father will you Professor?" Draco asked anxiously.

"Of course not Mr Malfoy. Anything you say to me is in confidence. The only time I would ever break that confidence is if not doing so would be detrimental to you in some way". He continued to pace.

Harry spoke up again "I saw a muggle documentary once Professor about parallel universes I thought maybe that might be it. I mean were not seeing the past or the future so…"

"Indeed that would be a rational explanation," said Snape much to the little boys' surprise.

"It would?" asked Draco

"I am slightly amazed that no one has seen fit to inform you that being psychic is part and parcel of being magical," Snape said sarcastically.

"But what would all those symbols mean Sir and what would be the point of seeing it if all of us are surrounded by different worlds at different times anyway?" asked Harry.

"These things tend to come to light in time. Have you had any more of these visions recently – since the match?" Snape asked

"No Sir," the boys said in unison.

"Then I suggest that due to starting here at Hogwarts and awakening and training your magical powers you have become very sensitive to other realities. Nothing more." Snape said looking stony faced as if wishing to avoid any form of expression whatsoever.

"Is that bad Professor?" asked Draco

"No not at all Mr Malfoy. If however they continue to plague you I would suggest coming back to myself or Professor Dumbledore and we will see what we can do for you. I cannot have my two best students fainting," he said. "Please try not to worry boys. Concentrate on your studies. I see no reason for concern. It is usually just a matter of getting used to your new – abilities."

Snape's face seemed particularly hard to read now but the little boys thanked him and left determined to put it all behind them if they could.

Christmas was fast approaching and Professor Snape was taking a list of all students who weren't returning home from the holidays. Draco looked a little sad as Harry's name was entered but Harry signed the form eagerly. "It's fine" he said. "I'm happy to stay here. It's either this or the Dursleys. I don't need another one of their Christmases".

Draco tried to seem pleased. "I'll bring you something back" he assured him.

"Oh there's no need to…"

"No, I want to," Draco insisted "I get so many presents I don't know what to do with them all and I…well I want you to have one," he said seeming a little uncomfortable.

"I'm not unhappy about this," Harry assured his friend. "I hate the Dursleys it'll be wonderful to have some peace and quiet."

"I'll write" said Draco earnestly, as if he still felt he'd been insensitive by mentioning the myriad of presents he'd received.

Harry waved Draco off from the castle's main doorway as the snow fell and then wandered back down to the dungeons. Most of his time was spent reading or going for long walks. That was when the sadness set in again. He remembered saying he hated his family but he loved them too. That was why it hurt so much. What he hated was what they had done to him. He wished he could somehow just make them feel what he felt, even for one minute; all the hurt; all the pain; them they'd know what it felt like – what they'd done to him. Then the nightmares started. There were no more odd visions but instead just dreams of bumping the Dursleys off. One night was especially graphic. He burst into his aunt and uncles bedroom and stabbed them both ferociously - splattering blood all over the walls. He woke up clutching his throat and thumped the bed. "That's how much you hurt me!" he screamed. He was alone in the dorm. All the Slytherin boys had gone home. There were one or two girls left behind but they were in their own dorms. Harry looked at the clock. It was 6am Christmas morning. Alone, but no Dursleys. He felt some sort of odd pain and relief at the same time. There was a hooting sound. Draco's eagle owl came flying into the dorm and sat on the bed. He had a letter for Harry with a Christmas card.

'Dear Harry,

First of all, Merry Christmas. I hope you are not feeling too bad there at Hogwarts. Pansy Parkinson's parents have gone to Austria so she will be there and also her friend Tabitha Carty. You can talk to them. I haven't opened my presents yet I wanted to send you this first. It's a little bit warmer down here than it is in Scotland and it's not snowing much. I like the snow though. We build snowmen outside sometimes.

Father has been a bit strange. He says I am getting too pusillanimous. I'm not even sure what that means. He said he was right all along and I should have gone to Durmstrang but mother gets upset then and says she was right in putting her foot down and keeping me in the UK. I hear Hogwarts do lovely Xmas dinners so you'll have that to look forward to. They do games as well sometimes. Dumbledore organises all that father says. Crabbe and Goyle are coming over on Boxing Day. I'd rather you were here though. I'd have asked father to invite you but he's hard to talk to at the moment about stuff like that. Take care Harry. I'll see you soon.

Draco

Harry re-read his letter three times then placed it in his bedside cabinet and dressed for breakfast. Walking into the common room he heard a little's girl's voice.

"Morning Harry," Pansy Parkinson was sitting in the common room in her dressing gown opening presents from under the tree.

"Morning," said Harry warily. He wondered if she'd heard him screaming.

"Merry Christmas," she said and held out a parcel for him.

"What's this?" asked Harry, dumbfounded.

"It's from me to you. I made it especially".

"Oh wow thanks!" said Harry grinning "Oh no…I didn't get you anything".

"Don't worry," Pansy said "I don't want anything. Maybe we could go sneaking down to the kitchen later and steal some food. It's only me you and Tabitha here, we could have our own little picnic in the common room".

" Aren't you going in to the hall for lunch?" Harry asked "Draco said there'll be a feast on".

"Oh yes we can do that. I meant tonight - we can have a picnic tonight".

Harry thought for a moment then piped up "OK" with a smile. It had to be better than sitting in the common room alone at any rate.

"Here" said Pansy, holding out a small parcel as Harry approached her.

"Thanks" he said looking a little embarrassed. Opening it he was pleasantly surprised. It was a simple yet well made trinket box with 'Harry Potter' engraved on it in green. "This is really nice" he said sitting in front of the fire.

"Glad you like it" Pansy smiled.

Just then another little girl's voice was heard "Merry Christmas Harry" Tabitha Carty walked in dressed in a green dressing down, marched straight over to Harry and boldly kissed him on the cheek. She then stuck her arm straight out in front of her palm up revealing a mince pie. "My mum sent me a dozen" she said "You can have one if you like".

Harry figured he must have meant the 'one' she was holding "Uh, thanks" he said taking it and feeling even more embarrassed. Pansy smiled again and turned her attention back to her parcels. Both the girls had quite a handful to plough through. Harry was trying to make small talk, albeit rather awkwardly, with them about Christmas decorations, how nice the elves had made the common room look and what might be for dinner. All three children seemed relatively content when suddenly Pansy pulled out a handful of presents for Harry. "These are from you as well?" He asked feeling shocked.

"No, they're from other people," she explained handing them over.

"Oh," said Harry "I wasn't expecting anything". He unwrapped a wooden flute from Hagrid, a box of Bertie Botts every flavour beans from Fred and George, chocolate frogs from Crabbe and Goyle and a fifty pence piece from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

"What the heck's that?" Asked Tabitha.

"You can have it," said Harry "its muggle money". Tabitha grimaced, forced out a "thanks" and placed the coin carefully on the arm of her chair as if it was covered in mucus.

Finally there was large soft parcel with a label attached that read 'To Harry'. "Not another one for me?" Harry asked.

"Yes but it doesn't say who it's from," said Pansy.

As Harry unwrapped it he unveiled a silvery shining cloth. He held it up in the firelight and the two girls gasped. "What?" He asked not realising what he was holding.

"It's an invisibility cloak," said Pansy. "They're really hard to come by. I've never seen one before".

"Look a note just fell out," said Tabitha and handed Harry a piece of paper. It was written in handwriting Harry didn't recognise and read:

'_Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was  
returned to you. Use it well.  
A Very Merry Christmas to you'._

"Who do you think it's from?" Tabitha asked.

"No idea" said Harry genuinely confused.

"Maybe a distant relative or something," suggested Pansy.

"I don't have any," Harry said feeling glum.

"Well never mind _someone_ cares enough to send it at least," said Tabitha encouragingly.

"Yes I suppose so," said Harry. "I'd really like to know who this is from though. _Who_ cares enough to send it? I mean if they knew my dad I want to know who it is. I wonder why they felt they couldn't tell me."

"It _is_ weird," said Pansy.

"Maybe you'll find out soon enough," Tabitha smiled. "In the meantime just keep it safe and use it well like they said".

Harry enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner. He, Pansy and Tabitha got on quite well and he even got more gifts out of the Christmas crackers. Just as they were finishing off their pudding Harry thought about Draco and wondered if he was having dinner at that very moment too. That night, as planned, Harry crept down into the kitchen with Pansy and Tabitha to steal food from the kitchens and had an indoor 'picnic' in the middle of the common room. This was the best Christmas Harry ever had.

On New Year's Eve Dumbledore allowed everyone to stay up to see in the New Year so Harry took the opportunity to enjoy the party organised in the Great Hall. When the clock struck twelve everyone cheered as they welcome in 1992. Tabitha was first to kiss Harry for luck which caused him to blush. Pansy was shortly behind. "Happy New Year Harry," she said and gave him a hug. Harry stood awkwardly not knowing where to put his arms. Pansy looked confused and a little hurt. "What's the matter?" She asked.

"Oh nothing it's just that, well…" Harry felt lost for words "…no one has ever hugged me before".

"You're _kidding_ me?" said Pansy.

"No…the muggles I lived with…"

"Say no more!" she interrupted looking revolted and dragged him into the centre of the floor to dance. He felt very awkward until Fred and George joined in who made a joke of out all with crazy dance moves.

Harry was very tired following the party so took the opportunity to hug again when he bid Pansy and Tabitha good night and went straight to his lonely dorm. Sitting up in bed he finished off his Bertie Botts beans from Fred and George and noticed a scribble on the side of the box: 'Happy Christmas Harry, if you ever need us for anything just give us a shout.' Harry thought it very a very nice thing to say but wondered what Draco would make of it all. Thinking of Draco he turned to his letter again and re-read it wondering how he was and what he'd had for Christmas. Then his thoughts inevitably turned back to The Dursleys. They gave him fifty pence. Oh they were sweet. Dudley had probably had hundreds if not thousands of pounds worth of presents. He was probably eating enough for a small army and sulking at that very moment. He wondered why the lovable trio had bothered to send him a card and 'gift' at all but as he pondered the idea realised their cunning: they were off the hook: they'd given the bare minimum so he or no one else could turn around and accuse them of ignoring him. Both Vernon and Petunia were pillars of the community due to their Oscar winning acting skills. Harry was known as the 'difficult child'. It was hard to be or feel normal around such toxic people.

That night Harry dreamed of the Christmas Party which made a nice change. New Year's Day was spent in the common room with Pansy and Tabitha. The next night Harry dreamed of Uncle Vernon chasing Pansy down the street so Harry shot him. Pansy was covered in Uncle Vernon's blood and crying. Harry turned around to the sound of Dudley's voice: "Harry? What's going on Harry? Harry?" Harry screamed and woke up. He could still hear a voice calling him "Harry? Harry? What's wrong? More visions? Harry?"

Harry turned around to the source of the voice and jumped with fright a he saw a face peering into his. He let out an almighty yell "ARGH!"

"AGH!" Came a shrill voice in reply. It was Draco standing next to Harry's bed looking terrified. "Merlin's beard Harry you frightened the life out of me!"

"Draco!" Harry squealed in relief and wrapped his arms around the blonde little boy. Draco looked as awkward as Harry had felt when he hugged Pansy New Year's Eve. "You're back!" Harry smiled broadly, not letting go.

"Yes I am. What's wrong?" Draco asked.

Harry released Draco and sat up in bed "Oh nothing, just a dream about Uncle Vernon".

Draco grimaced. "I got you a present," he said changing the subject.

"Oh wow thanks!" said Harry. It was a large, flat square shaped gift.

"My Aunt Andromeda sent it to me. She likes muggle music but I don't know anything about the band so I thought you might like it. I got you some marshmallows as well and a Slytherin tie pin". Harry thanked his friend over and over again grinning with gratitude. Opening the large present Harry unwrapped a record called 'Ten' by Pearl Jam. He'd not heard of them either but was glad to have been given such a nice gift.

The two Slytherin friends were happy to be reunited and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast chatting constantly about the events over the Christmas holidays and the presents they received. Harry left the bit about the invisibility cloak until last. Draco, shocked by the news, dropped his spoon into his porridge.

"You got a what?"

"An invisibility cloak. That's what Pansy said it was anyway. I'd never heard of one before."

"Who was it from?"

"I've no idea."

"There was no card with it?"

"Just a note, I'll show it to you when we get back to the dorm. It wasn't signed it just said 'I was left this by your father.'"

"Maybe you have a wizard relative you don't know about," Draco suggested.

"The Dursleys are the only family I've got," Harry reminded him.

"Are you absolutely _sure_?" Draco asked.

"Well, yes I mean, I'm guessing that's why I was left with them in the first place. That's what they always told me anyway".

"There's something funny going on here," said Draco narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "Oh damn!" he said when he'd realised his spoon was now submerged in sticky porridge and tried to pull it out without getting too messy. Harry didn't say anything but began to think Draco was right about something funny going on. There'd have to be a good reason behind why the person who gave him the cloak remained anonymously and he or she must have been someone his father trusted implicitly. Yet who could it be? Harry was more than a little keen to find out.

~Tabitha Carty is my own character~


	6. Chapter 5 - Detention

Chapter Five – Detention

Once the Christmas season was over and Hogwarts retuned to its normal term – time routine the school welcomed a replacement for the late Professor Quirrell. One snowy afternoon in January a short, balding, middle - aged wizard called Ned Lower strolled through the main doors armed with more books than it was possible to carry. Some were floating over his head, some in front, some behind his back and others in a muggle trailer he dragged with him. Professor Lower was hired by Professor Dumbledore to fill the position of Defence Against The Dark Arts at last minute.

Professor Lower was a sweet and amiable man but seemed to be somewhat of a loner. He'd spend a great deal of time (when not teaching) in his chambers or, for some odd reason, in the hospital wing. Aside from these issues, however, he was an excellent teacher and really knew his stuff. He seemed to genuinely have experience of battling just about every type of dark magic in existence and students seemed to like him. The only drawback was that he seemed distracted at times in lessons and had the odd habit of taking his pulse every ten minutes. He also, peculiarly, had a muggle poster of the inside of a human body on the wall of the DADA classroom which was much like the sort of thing one might see at a muggle doctor's office. The room also smelled of disinfectant but students, especially Harry and Draco, much preferred that to the nasty smell that used to emanate from Professor Quirrell's head.

One day during a DADA lesson Slytherin had with Hufflepuff (which Harry and Draco particularly enjoyed as Hufflepuff students were easy to wind up) Professor Lower was demonstrating how to cast and counteract a leg locker curse. Justin Finch - Fletchy kept screaming like a girl every time his legs got locked which Draco found utterly hilarious. After the practical part of the lesson was over both Houses were asked to sit down and take notes on what to do should one happen to find oneself cursed in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly, half way through the lesson, Professor Lower whipped out a muggle blood pressure monitor and started to take his own blood pressure. It didn't seem to be part of the lesson but everyone just went along with it regardless. After that particular lesson Harry and Draco were just leaving the classroom when they were accosted by Fred and George Weasley in the corridor.

"He's mad isn't he?" said George.

"Really off his rocker," said Fred.

"We think he's a hypochondriac," said George.

"Better than Quirrell though," Fred said.

"Much better than Quirrell," George agreed.

"We think we know what that smell was," Fred said grinning.

"What are you talking about Weasley Twins?" Snapped Draco

"The smell - we think he was possessed," Fred explained.

"What? Don't be stupid," Draco barked.

Fred trapped the little blonde boy against the wall by placing an arm either side of him. "Ah yes," said Fred, "but you see it was sulphur…sulphur is a sure sign of…"

"…evil," George finished.

"Wait, what?" Harry butted in.

"That's what the smell coming from his head was: sulphur. He was possessed. That's why they burnt his head - his head was possessed," said Fred eagerly.

"Get away from me crazy Weasley Twin," said Draco ducking under Fred's arm and marching off.

Harry glanced back at the twins in acknowledgment of their message then trotted after his friend. "It **would** explain why they burnt his head" Harry whispered noticing other students approaching.

"The twins are insane, ignore them," said Draco.

"I think they're quite nice," said Harry carefully.

"It's like I told you though, they're still Weasleys," Draco said firmly. "What does it matter anyway whether Quirrell was possessed or not? He's dead"

"I dreamed of him. It was really horrible," said Harry.

"Of burning him alive?"

"Yes!"

"That might not mean anything…"

"What if it does? We're both seeing similar things. Why would I have that dream then the whole weird cremation thing after Quirrell's death? It's like the twins said - it's as if something was going on and the teachers were trying to cover it up."

Harry had Draco's attention.

"Well what can we do about it anyway? It's too late now whatever it is. It's over".

"Maybe," said Harry, "or maybe - maybe we need to know about this."

"What good could knowing about it do?"

"I don't know maybe we'd be in less danger if we did."

"Danger?" Yelled Draco "We're not in danger!"

"Let's just not forget about it totally ok, in case we need it for later on I mean."

Draco thought for a moment. "What would we need it for?"

"I don't know I just think it might be important and…"

"…you can never know too much," the boys echoed and each gave a little shiver at the odd way in which their affinity was growing.

Harry and Draco agreed to put the head burning incident on ice for the time being and take each day as it came. Their priorities remained their work and stealing food from the kitchen with the aid of the invisibility cloak. Every time they used it they would discuss who they thought it might be from but they never reached a conclusion. They were also working particularly hard in Charms Class in order to prove they were as good as Ron and Hermione. Finally potions class with Gryffindor came around again. Harry and Draco hoped Ron and Hermione would fall into their cauldrons. When they reached the potions room door one Tuesday afternoon they felt rather disappointed to see the Gryffindor duo sitting right at the front of the class where Harry and Draco normally sat. Hermione and Ron must have had a plan.

"Come on," said Draco, "Let's just pretend we don't care and sit right next to them. There are two spare seats - look".

Harry grunted. "OK," he agreed and walked casually in.

"Take a seat quickly please," said Snape as he wrote on the backboard. "The lesson officially started one minute ago."

Draco smiled sneakily at Hermione and sat next to her.

"Nice of you to join us boys," said Snape looking at Harry and Draco.

Ron giggled.

"As most of you by now are totally and completely inept at producing a cure for boils we are going to temporarily move on to the forgetfulness potion," said Snape.

Hermione and Ron glanced at each other guiltily.

"Can anyone give me the name of just **one** of the main what the ingredients required to make such a potion?" asked Snape wearily.

Hermione's hand shot up on the air and Draco's quickly followed.

"Yes Miss Granger?" Snape said reluctantly

"ProfessorLetheRiver Water Sir".

"Correct" the potion master said solemnly. "Can anyone give me another?"

Draco's hand shot straight up again but Hermione had beaten him to it and this time leaned over her desk slightly to block his view.

"Yes Miss Granger, as you're so especially eager today…" Snape asked.

"Mistletoe berries Sir."

"Correct," Snape confirmed.

Draco scowled and Hermione stuck her nose in the air with superiority.

"Finally can anyone… **else**…give me another?" Draco's hand beat Hermione's to it this time but the Gryffindor girl almost pushed him out of his seat and yelled "VALERIAN SPRIGS SIR!"

"That's not fair Sir she pushed Draco!" Harry yelled.

"Silence both of you!" Snape bellowed.

Draco snapped at Hermione "You stinking rotten little…"

"And you're a sly little imp," Hermione interrupted quickly.

"And you Miss Granger are an insufferable little know it all" said Snape.

"No she isn't she's the cleverest person in the class!" yelled Ron.

"Enough!" Snape yelled getting red with anger. "All four of you will remain silent for the remainder of the lesson. Ten points from Gryffindor!"

"What?" yelled Ron "No that's not fair!"

"Shut up or you'll get us into trouble again!" yelled Neville.

"You messed up Hermione's potion last time so you can shut up Neville," snapped Ron.

"No I didn't we both messed it up - me and Hermione."

"SILENCE!" Snape screamed. "One hundred points from Gryffindor!"

"You couldn't brew a cure for boils if you're life depended on it Longbottom!" Draco yelled.

"Ron you're so two faced!" Harry squealed.

Snape slammed a very huge book down his desk making everyone jump and turn to face him. "Potter, Malfoy, Granger, Weasley, Longbottom – detention." he said calmly.

The remainder of the lesson was excruciatingly painful. Hermione and Ron were forced to sit at the back and at the end of class Snape asked Harry and Draco to remain behind. Once the final student had left the potions master called the two Slytherins over to him and gave them both a very stern look. "I am disappointed in you both," he said with a raised eyebrow. "I expected much better."

Draco started to speak but Snape silenced him "I know how infuriating Miss Granger and Mr Weasley are being but that does not give you an excuse to rise to the bait." "But Sir they're like this all the time Sir we just snapped today we couldn't take any more," said Harry. "It's not just in your lesson either it's in every lesson not to mention during breaks as well."

"Mr Potter," Snape continued towering over the two little boys, "these things do not go unnoticed by staff but I am warning you for your own sake's to keep the right side of trouble. You two are my best students and I need you to stay focused."

"Very sorry Sir."

"Won't happen again professor."

"Very well. I will owl you regarding detention boys and I expect you to be there promptly."

"Yes Sir," both boys said and bid farewell glumly heading back to the dorms.

"That's it I've had it with them we have to do something!" Draco yelled throwing his books on his bed.

"Do what?" Asked Harry. "Take revenge?"

Draco nodded towards Harry's wardrobe.

Harry took the hint. He glanced around. They were not alone so he decided not to bring the invisibility cloak out into the open lest their plans be revealed.

"We still don't know who it's from," he reminded Draco. "What if it's cursed or something?"

"It would have harmed you by now if it was," Draco said and sat forward onto the edge of his bed.

Harry inched closer. "So just how do you suppose we do this?" he asked. Could we creep into their dorm somehow?"

"We could if we waited for someone else to go through the portrait hole door first," said Draco, smiling craftily.

"But we'd have to be careful not to bump into anyone or anything," said Harry.

"Then we'll have to make sure we're behind and not in front of anyone," said Draco.

"I put cress seeds in Dudley's bed once," said Harry enthusiastically, "we could do that."

"Perfect," Draco grinned.

"Do you think they'll know it's us?" Harry asked.

"Granger and Weasley might but the teachers won't," Draco smirked.

The following morning before breakfast both Slytherin boys received an owl from Snape instructing them to meet Filch at the main doors that evening at 11pm. Their minds started racing. What on earth was in store for them? It was bad enough they had to spend detention with the two people they disliked the most let alone with Filch in charge. As they approached the main doors they saw the squib caretaker standing alone, hunched over, with a lamp in his hand. "Evening boys," he grinned.

"Where are we going?" Draco demanded.

"To see Hagrid" said Filch.

"Hagrid? What for?" Asked Harry.

He was interrupted by Hermione, Ron and Neville joining the group.

"OK now as we're all here let's get going" Filch said looking as if he was taking great pleasure in his duties.

"I don't like the look of this. I don't like the look of this one bit" Hermione said as she trailed behind Harry and Draco. Ron and Neville were silent.

As the young group of students waked out of the castle they saw Hagrid waiting out-side his hut with a cross bow and Fang. Filch gave out a sick laugh. "Have fun," he said and walked back towards the castle. "Hi Hagrid", said Harry nervously. "What are we doing here?"

"Yer've got to help me in the ForbiddenForest," he explained.

"What?!" yelled Draco.

"You're joking?" Hermione gasped.

"No I'm not joking yer've done wrong an' now yeh have to pay for it."

"So you're just going to leave us in there? You wait until my father hears about this," said Draco.

"If yeh'd rather not do it," said Hagrid, "yeh can pack yer bags and leave".

Draco glared up at Hagrid but the giant seemed serious. Their mission was to follow some silver unicorn blood and find the injured animal with a view to putting it out of its misery. This did not appeal to Draco who felt that whatever killed the unicorn might also take an interest in him and his fellow students.

_"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."  
"I want Fang," _said Draco _quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.  
"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry, Ron an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other." _

Harry and Draco reluctantly went their separate ways and crept into the dark forest. The sounds of owls hooting echoed above then they heard a rustling followed by the sound of hooves. A pair of centaurs approached and muttered something about stars then went on their way. Harry couldn't help but wonder if the rustling sounds had come from something other than the centaurs. Reassuringly Hagrid believed they probably did. 'Great', Harry thought, 'a blood sucking murderer is on the loose and we're in the middle of it all'. Then things got even worse: Draco and Neville let out red warning sparks. Hagrid bolted in their direction. Hermione whispered to Ron: _"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" _she said. _"I don't care if Malfoy has, but if something's got Neville... it's our fault he's here in the first place."_

"You what?!" Harry snapped back at the Gryffindor girl.

"Nothing" said Hermione looking at her feet guiltily.

"You don't care if Draco's been hurt, or worse?" Harry asked angrily.

Hermione said nothing - just folded her arms and looked away.

"It's your fault we're **all** here Granger!" shouted Harry angrily "If anything happens to either one of them it'll be **your** fault. You make me **sick**!"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Ron shouted.

"Stay out of it Weasley you two faced moron you hated her on the way up here on the train now you're her best mate!" Yelled Harry.

"I did **not** say I hated her…he's lying," said Ron desperately. Hermione looked quickly from Ron to Harry as if she was wondering what to think of it all.

"You said you hope you wouldn't be in the same House as Hermione coz she was stuck up," said Harry

"No I…didn't…" Ron said slowly and quietly.

"You liar!" Yelled Harry.

"Hey, hey what's all this? Not more squabbling?" asked Hagrid returning with a relieved expression on his face. Draco and Neville were safe and in tow - it was a false alarm. Draco had tapped Neville on the shoulder who panickedand sent up warning sparks. Harry felt exceedingly grateful.

_"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'." _Said Hagrid looking down at Draco and Neville."_Right, we're changin' groups - Neville, you stay with me, Ron an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot."_

Hermione smirked at Harry and Draco. "Come on let's get moving," Hagrid urged the group of children.

Harry was pleased to be rid of Hermione and Ron as he walked off with Draco and Fang but as they came across more and more unicorn blood Harry's fears grew. "What was all that about back there?" Asked Draco - referring to the squabble between Harry and the Gryffindors.

"Oh nothing," Harry lied not wanting to upset Draco —"Just Hermione being Hermione that's all." The truth was Harry was getting angrier by the minute and not just with the Gryffindors but with Hagrid for calling Draco an idiot just because he pulled a prank when Hermione had got away scot free after wishing Draco dead. Suddenly Draco whispered, "Look—what's that?" In front of them was a lifeless body of a beautiful unicorn and something was hovering over it—a cloaked figure that seemed to have no real form. The tiny hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood on end. He wanted to send up sparks for Hagrid to see but he couldn't move. He was rooted to the spot in fear. Suddenly the scar on his head ached furiously again as the figure came rushing towards them. Fang turned and bolted – so much for the dog protecting them. Draco screamed and pulled hard at Harry's robe begging him to follow him out of the forest. "Argh!" he yelled in a desperate need to get away, "Harry move – please! Run!" The little blonde boy tugged harder still then fell back onto the damp ground with the effort, pulling Harry with him. Then came the sound of hooves again and a male centaur scared the blood sucking creature off just in time. The centaur walked slowly towards the two little boys and helped them to their feet. "Are you all right?" it asked.

"Do we look alright to you?" Draco screeched. "That thing nearly had us for desert." The centaur recognised Harry and introduced itself as Firenze lowering himself on to the floor so that the little boys could climb on to his back. Draco climbed on first and held tightly on to Firenze; Harry followed holding on to Draco.

"What if we fall off?" Asked Draco.

"Hold on tight, you will be fine. We need to get you out of here." Firenze explained. Their conversation was interrupted, however, by two other centaurs who started getting angry at the fact that Firenze was carrying two humans on his back. It also wasn't particularly great news that they inferred that Harry was supposed to have been killed by the hooded blood sucker. The planets had foretold it apparently. Firenze ignored them however and galloped off with the boys.

After a while Firenze slowed to a trot and eventually stopped - explaining to the little boys that unicorn blood can be used to help the un-dead remain un-dead. It didn't sound too great to Harry or Draco who both thought death would be the better option. Firenze agreed with them but suggested such a vile method of artificial survival might be used by someone who needed to remain alive long enough to find a more permanent and reliable way to immortality.  
"Young humans_, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"_ Firenze asked.

Harry and Draco looked at each other.

"No…" murmured Harry.

"Something's hidden?" asked Draco, "what?"

"The philosopher's stone," said Firenze.

Suddenly Harry got a déjà vu-y again.

"What's that?" Draco asked.

"It once belonged to Nicholas Flamel – the great alchemist. It was placed in the school for protection because the un-dead creature you saw tonight is searching for it."

Suddenly and without warning Harry had a particularly vivid image race into his head much like a train passing through a station. He was burning professor Quirrell to death again but this time the stuttering idiot had two faces – one of which was hidden underneath his turban. "I feel sick," said Harry almost losing his grip of Draco.

"I don't feel too great either," said Draco clinging more tightly on to Firenze.

"We're there now. You're safe" the centaur whispered as they came to a clearing and saw Hagrid walking towards them. _"Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."_

"So do I," said Harry, "and thank you so much for saving us."

"You're very welcome" Firenze nodded and galloped off into the distance. Just then Hagrid came running towards them. "My goodness Harry, Draco I was worried sick" the giant said breathlessly.

"Really? Well, that's funny because we didn't see any sign of you," said Draco.

"You left us!" Said Harry

"I'm sorry Harry I thought…"

"We could have been killed!" cried Draco.

'My goodness' thought Harry 'the adults really are outdoing themselves this time.'

"Where are the others?" Asked Harry. "Are they still ok?"

"Yes they're fine they went back t' the castle" Hagrid explained.

"Right, well that's where we're going," said Harry. "Oh by the way the unicorn's dead. And that thing that killed it is still on the loose. It almost got us. It's looking for the sorcerer's stone."

"How did you know about that?" asked Hagrid.

"Firenze told us," said Harry.

Draco glared at Hagrid one last time and both boys ran up to the safety of the school.

Neither Harry nor Draco slept at all well that night in fact they remained wide awake discussing the night's events. Both felt furious and terrified.

"I feel like packing my bags and leaving" said Harry. "I'd rather be alive and with the Dursleys than dead and here."

"You can't leave," said Draco with panic in his voice. "I won't let you. You're my best friend." The little blonde boy sniffed and stiffened up as if to distract himself from his new found sensibilities. "I'd just like to know what my father would make of this," he said. "He's a school governor and I don't understand why Professor Snape would put us in danger like that. It doesn't make any sense."

"We'll have to ask him tomorrow," said Harry.

"This is tomorrow," said Draco looking at the clock beside his bed. "Oh it's no good, I can't sleep," he said sitting up and accidentally knocked a book from his table on to the floor. Both boys jumped at the sudden noise and screamed. Several heads shot up from their pillows and looked in Harry and Draco's direction.

"What's going on?" Blaise Zabini asked.

"We are scared to death. Some…**thing**…in the forest tried to kill us" said Draco.

"Sorry we woke you," said Harry, "but it was mental. We had the fright of our lives. We're lucky to be alive."

"No way! Said Blaise. "Was that your detention?"

"Yes!" Harry and Draco squealed together.

"That's mad. That shouldn't be allowed," said Blaise.

"I know I'm telling my father," said Draco. "Come on Harry. We've woken everybody up now we might as well go into the common room."

"Sorry guys," said Harry.

The other boys nodded in acknowledgement and lay back down.

Settling into the common room Draco and Harry lit the fire and sat down to think. "Maybe telling my father wouldn't be such a good idea," said Draco prodding the firewood with a poker.

"Why not? Asked Harry "If he's governor he could do something."

"Do what though? All he'll do is get all angry and – well I'm afraid he might take me our of Hogwarts altogether," said Draco avoiding eye contact.

"What, why?" asked Harry feeling scared.

"He just mentioned over Christmas that he felt I should have gone to Durmstrang. It's a school of Magic in Norway."

"Norway? That's miles away!"

"I know – I don't want to go there. And you can't leave either you can't go back to the muggles you **have** to stay."

Harry did have to admit to himself that Draco was the best friend he ever had and leaving Hogwarts would put and end to that. Besides this was his home now.

"I just can't believe Professor Snape would send us into the woods like that. There must be an explanation for it," he said thoughtfully.

"We'll talk to him about it first thing – before breakfast"

Draco nodded and pulled his knees up onto the chair underneath his chin. Both boys sat in silence gazing into the flames of the fire. Then Harry spoke.

"I saw visions again in the forest, when we were on Firenze's back."

"Really, like what?" Draco asked, perking up.

"Burning Quirrell again only this time he had two faces".

"Two faces?"

"One at the front…one at the back…that he was hiding under his turban."

Draco's eyes started to dart from side to side as he gave this matter some serious thought.

"Suppose the twins" Harry continued "were right?"

"Right?"

"About his head being possessed."

"People don't have possessed heads" said Draco incredulously.

"So why did he keep it all wrapped up then and why did I see him with two faces and why was there that funny smell and why did he keep taking to himself?" Asked Harry. Draco straightened himself up.

"And Firenze said there was a sorcerer's stone in the school somewhere hidden. That 'Thing' would have been looking for it."

"That 'Thing' that nearly killed us?"

"Exactly. Dumbledore must know it's on the loose."

"We should speak to Professor Snape," said Draco "And while we're at it…get that cloak out and plant cress in Weasley's and Grangers beds."

"We will have to work quickly and quietly with this one" said Harry thinking of both endeavours. "We need answers and we need to get revenge. Only this time we can't get caught. No way I'm getting detention and going into that forest again."

"Don't know why we couldn't have just copied lines," said Draco.

"Project Detention and Project Cress are on," said Harry earnestly.

"Not to mention Project Sorcerer's Stone," said Draco.

"Do you think Quirrell and The Thing in the forest are connected somehow?" Asked Harry.

"If they are we'll find out," said Draco.

The two friends shook on it, vowing to set all matters straight.

~Ned Lower is my own character~


	7. Chapter 6 - Butterflies

**Please forgive the delay in posting this one. I've been struggling with health issues. As a result it's also shorter than the other chapters but it's full of information and (I hope) does the job.**

Chapter 6 - Butterflies

After sleeping for most of the night in the common Room Harry and Draco woke early, dressed and made their way to Professor Snape's chambers to catch him before breakfast. 'Butterflies in the stomach' was not a sufficient term to describe how nervous the boys were feeling. They felt like there were bats in there. Their anger at what had happened, however, gave them the adrenaline to carry on. Arriving at the door of Snape's chambers they knocked and waited for what seemed like a very long time indeed.

"Maybe he's still asleep," said Draco

"Maybe he's gone to breakfast already," suggested Harry.

Eventually the door opened – slowly. Professor Snape was dressed and looked ready for breakfast but also rather grumpy at having been disturbed. The head of Slytherin raised an eyebrow and looked sternly from one boy to another. "I trust this is of the uppermost importance boys?" He asked with a sleepy drawl.

"Yes Sir," said Harry.

"It is Professor," said Draco.

"We need to talk to you urgently we…" Harry stumbled over his words.

"There's something you need to know," Draco continued.

"Last night we nearly…there was a 'thing'…"

"Our detention…"

"After breakfast boys," Snape mumbled and tried closing the door. Harry jammed it open with his foot. "We almost go killed in the forest last night Sir."

The door swung back open. Snape was wide eyed. "How did this come about?" he asked in amazement.

"Filch took us to meet Hagrid and we went into the ForbiddenForest where we saw an un-dead – 'Thing'," said Harry.

Snape pulled both boys in by their scruffs and slammed the door. "Take a seat boys – quickly." He said pointing to two chairs next to a desk.

"Thank you Sir," said the two young friends nervously and sat down.

"Last night we had detention in the forest," Harry said.

"The Forbidden Forest Sir where the werewolves are and a Thing nearly ate us." Draco added.

Snape started to look rather angry.

"Who authorised this?" He asked.

Both boys looked at each other dumbfounded.

"We don't know Sir we thought you'd know," said Harry.

"We didn't think it would be something you would do Professor," Draco added.

"It most certainly is not," Snape said firmly.

"Firenze the centaur said there was an un-dead being in the forest drinking unicorn blood to stay alive long enough to, to…" Harry stuttered.

Snape's expression hardened further.

"…get to the Sorcerer's Stone Sir," added Draco.

"It tried to attack us Sir but Firenze scared it off. Hagrid left us alone with it. He said nothing would harm us if we were with him or Fang but, well it very nearly did," said Harry.

"He left us and so did Fang," said Draco. "Hagrid stayed with the Gryffindors."

"This is most unorthodox," said Snape. "We never send first year students into the Forbidden Forest especially at a time like this."

"My father wouldn't be happy about this Sir. I think he'd take me out of Hogwarts altogether if he knew," said Draco feeling braver.

Snape thought in silence for a moment. "I know," he said contemplating the information he'd just been given. "Leave this with me boys I will ascertain who is behind it and ensure that such an absurd thing never happens again to any of you."

"Thank you Sir," the boys echoed. Harry was still very eager to know who's idea the detention was but sensed Snape was reluctant to give out such information.

"What about the stone Sir? What would The Thing be and would it get the stone?"

"Not any more Potter," Snape assured his student. "It's only means of accessing the stone has been – eliminated" he said slowly.

"So who or what was The Thing Sir?" Draco asked.

"The creature in question is not something you need concern yourselves with. You are safe here at Hogwarts."

"As long as we stay out of the forbidden forest," Harry added with slight sarcasm.

"Indeed," said Snape slowly. "Please make your way to the great hall for breakfast boys. I will take this matter in hand."

The boys thanked him and left.

During breakfast Harry and Draco sat quietly thinking over what had been said to them and the horrors experienced the previous night.

Harry whispered to Draco "the only means of getting to the stone has been destroyed," he said stirring his porridge.

Draco turned around quickly. "You mean?"

"The twins were right. Quirrell's head was possessed…that's what's been destroyed and that is what The Thing was using to get to the stone."

"So who would send us in that horrid place if they knew The Thing was in there?"

"Well we know it wasn't Snape," said Harry

"That leaves two people: McGonagall and Dumbledore McGonagall must have had some say in this as three of the group were Gryffindors."

"But surely Dumbledore wouldn't have done it? He said on our first day the forbidden forest is out of bounds. He'd have to be mad to send us in there."

Draco gave Harry a knowing look.

"No not **him**?"

"There's only one other way to find out," Draco said with a twinkle in his eye.

After their next Transfiguration class Harry and Draco waited behind to speak to McGonagall. "Professor could we have a quick word?" Draco asked approaching the Gryffindor head of house.

"Certainly Mr Malfoy how can I help?" McGonagall asked looking down at him.

"Well…we wanted to…" he glanced at Harry with a slight nod "…apologise for getting three students from your house into trouble the other day."

"Ah yes the incident in Potions," said McGonagall.

Harry was on to what Draco had in mind.

"We learned our lesson we won't do it again," said Draco.

"No way…I mean…not after that detention we had," Harry echoed.

"Yes The Forbidden Forest is a very scary place. We'll think twice about arguing with classmates in class again," said Draco.

"The Forbidden Forest?" McGonagall asked "What are you talking about?"

"Well that's where we went for detention isn't it?" Draco said pretending he believed she knew.

"The Forbidden Forest?" McGonagall was beginning to sound like a parrot.

"You didn't know Professor?" Harry asked innocently

"I most certainly did not" she said incredulously.

"Oh, sorry," Draco said softly "we thought you knew…"

"Well at least you are all still in one piece."

"Yes" Harry laughed – "only just."

"Well that's all we wanted to say Professor. We're sorry."

"That's quite alright boys. I appreciate the thought."

Both little Slytherins said goodbye and sauntered off.

Walking into the castle grounds at break-time the two Harry and Draco were shocked yet happy to have found their answers at last.

"So it **was** Dumbledore then," said Draco.

"Why would he do such a thing?" Asked Harry who felt stunned to the core.

"He's senile. He's a crazy old coot." They sat down on a bench in an attempt to calm their anger. "Snape will sort it out," said Draco. We can trust him. My dad's known him for years."

Harry nodded in an attempt to make himself believe it. He needed all the reassurance he could get. Just then two familiar voices echoed form behind.

"Hi guys."

Draco and Harry turned to see Fred and George beaming at them.

"How did detention go?" Asked George

"You must have done something really bad to deserve that," said Fred.

"Actually we didn't," Draco snapped, "we just argued with your brother and his girlfriend."

"Sorry," said Harry, "we don't mean to be awkward we just…"

"Don't like him?" Asked Fred

"Well, not really no," Harry tried to admit while trying not to offend the twins.

"We don't either," the twins echoed.

Draco and Harry looked at each other with curious expressions.

The twins urged the boys to shift over and sat on the bench next to them.

"We know about the sorcerer's stone," said Harry "and we know Quirrell's head was possessed. We met a Thing in the forest. It was drinking unicorns blood to stay un-dead long enough to get to the stone. It possessed Quirrell to do it."

"We know," said Fred.

"You know?" Asked Draco

"Yup, we worked it all out," said Fred leaning back with his hands behind his back.

"Why didn't you say something?" Asked Draco

"Well by then it was all too late. We worked it out though," said Fred

"The sulphur," George continued.

"The turban," Fred added.

"We knew he was up to something. We reckoned the Sorcerer's stone had to be hidden in the school somewhere because there was an attempted break in at Gringotts and then there was the troll in the dungeons and well something pretty nasty must have been after it," said George.

"But who would want such a stone and why would Dumbledore send us in the forest?" asked Harry

"Wish we knew fellas," said Fred, "wish we knew."

"We're just glad you're ok," the twins echoed and walked back to the castle.

"See I told you they were OK," said Harry.

"OK," Draco admitted reluctantly, "I still wouldn't call them friends though."

Harry shrugged - then another vision came: a flash of green light and Professor Quirrell's second face talking to him. The voice was raspy and evil. It was commanding him to get the stone. Harry was in a room with them 'both.' The vision faded as quickly as it had arrived.

"VOLDEMORT!" Harry yelled.

"What?" Screeched Draco.

"It was Voldemort. The Thing was Voldemort…only he would be that desperate to come back!"

"Don't say his name!"

"What The Thing?"

"No V…"

"Why not? Asked Harry, "it's just a name."

"It's considered dangerous to say it."

"Why? Voldemort Voldemort Voldemort." Harry continued to defy the 'rule'. A few other first years walked past, overheard and gasped. It got worse however when Harry started rapping it: "Vold, The Voldster, Voldesnot, Volleymort, Voldemort he's the v,v,v,v,v, vol…"

"Oh my goodness stop it!" Draco begged covering his face with fear and embarrassment. If it's just a name we can call him He who must not be named or You Know Who."

"Draco – listen – his name doesn't matter. What matters is he tried to kill us."

"He's not strong enough now without Quirrell," said Draco. "He can't get to the stone."

"You're right," said Harry after some thought. "But what if he still tried to get the stone some other way? We have to tell Professor Snape."

Professor Snape was disturbed again by a knocking on his door that afternoon. He swung it open to reveal yet another disgruntled expression on his face. "Malfoy, Potter," he said slowly looking at the two friends. "What can I do for you?"

"We know about Quirrell's possessed head," said Harry bluntly.

"And The Thing in the forest was You Know Who," Draco whispered.

Snape grabbed both little boys by the scruff again hurling them in to his office and slamming the door. "You need not concern yourselves with this matter any longer boys the stone has been destroyed."

"It has?" Asked Draco

"Quirrell's plans were uncovered some time ago and confirmed when we – found the evidence," said Snape as if trying to pick his words carefully.

"Under his turban?" Asked Draco.

Snape paused and on an out breath said "– yes."

"That's why you burnt his head?" Asked Harry

"Indeed." Said Snape

"And The Thing was You Know Who?" Asked Draco.

Snape did not answer but rubbed his chin and gazed at the floor.

"Sir if it tried to kill us I think we have the right to know what it is," Harry said boldly.

"The creature you speak of was indeed You Know Who," said Snape slowly.

"And Dumbledore sent us in there after him?" Asked Draco angrily.

Snape paced the room and finally admitted "Yes. Professor Dumbledore did organise the detention. He assured me he acted out of a certain knowledge you would be safe." Snape seemed to be holding something back again

"A certain knowledge of what?" Asked Draco.

"As I said boys psychic ability comes with the territory."

"It was a big risk Sir," said Harry.

"It was Potter but I suggest if you wish to continue this line of questioning you do so with the headmaster himself. He has already informed me he would be happy to discuss this matter with you both."

Draco looked from Snape to Harry as if unsure.

"Fine," Harry said flatly.

Both boys turned to go.

"Boys – wait," said Snape firmly.

"Sorry Sir we meant to say thank you," said Draco.

Snape ignored the little blonde boy's apology and placed a hand on each of the boys' backs whipping away what appeared to be two pieces of paper. He held them up for the two Slytherins to see. 'Parry Hotter', 'Mraco Dalfoy'

"I told you," Draco snapped. "I told you they can't be trusted those stinking rotten Weasley twins!"

Harry stifled a giggle.

"Thank you Sir," they whispered again and left.


End file.
